The New England Patriots are taking Sunday’s game against the Detroit Lions quite seriously. Not only do they want to wash the taste of last week’s 45-27 defeat versus Green Bay from their collective mouths, they also hope to enter the upcoming bye week with a 6-4 record and some much-needed momentum on their side.
Doing so will not be easy; the Lions are a formidable opponent making the trip to Germany off a four-game winning streak. However, there are ways for the Patriots to defeat them and it
starts with the following crucial areas.
Stop Jahmyr Gibbs
Jahmyr Gibbs is a problem. Just ask any team that has had to face him this season.
Appearing in all eight of the Detroit Lions’ games, the versatile running back has gained more than 100 scrimmage yards six times. On the year, he is ranked first in the NFL with 1,132 of them and also has found the end zone a league-leading 11 times.
He is the motor that powers an offense that has been among the most productive in football thus far in 2026. And, unsurprisingly, he is a player the New England Patriots are making sure to keep a close eye on this Sunday.
“Gibbs is probably the best running back in the league right now as far as his target share, the amount of yards, in terms of how much offense he is producing by himself,” said safety Kevin Byard. “He’s the No. 1 target that we have to stop, for sure.”
Joining the Lions as a first-round draft pick in 2023, Gibbs’ career is off to a red-hot start. He is ranked first in the NFL in touchdowns since starting his career (60) and second in scrimmage yards (6,161). He also was voted to the Pro Bowl in every season thus far.
“Probably one of the best players in the NFL,” said defensive coordinator Zak Kuhr at the FC Bayern Munich practice facility earlier this week. “He’s got the most touches, all-purpose yards, forced missed tackles, explosive runs. He’s a threat out of the backfield.”
While the Lions offense as a whole is filled to the brim with talent — including quarterback Jared Goff, who isn’t going to be underestimated by the Patriots — Gibbs is the main man. The 24-year-old has touched the ball on over 40% of Detroit’s plays and is responsible for 37% of the team’s yardage output, despite only averaging 5.4 yards per touch. He also has scored 11 of 25 Detroit touchdowns this season.
So, how do the Patriots actually stop him? Maybe by taking a page out of the Dolphins’ playbook. Miami didn’t do anything fancy with blitzes or stunts — they just built a wall, filled lanes quickly, and mostly swarmed well to keep Gibbs from getting more yards even when he broke tackles. He finished that game with a season-low 74 yards and a touchdown.
Slow down the pass game
They may not be the Packers, who had averaged 4.7 explosive pass plays per game entering their contest against the Patriots last week (before adding seven more to their tally), but the Lions are more than capable of putting pressure on New England’s pass defense as well. Another performance like last Sunday’s would therefore be a problem for the team.
So, what do you do if you’re the Patriots? There are multiple ways to tackle this problem beyond just better execution from the players on the field, and they all start at the very most important spot: quarterback.
Jared Goff may not be one of the NFL’s top-tier quarterbacks, but he has been pretty darn good getting the football to his weapons. That group is highlighted by the aforementioned Jahmyr Gibbs – just look at the numbers – but also includes other talented players in wide receivers Amon-Ra St. Brown and Jameson Williams as well as tight end Sam LaPorta. All of them are dangerous with the ball in their hands, so preventing it from getting there looks like a natural first step to success.
In order to accomplish that particular goal against a player dubbed an “elite pocket passer” by the team this week, one position group in particular will be in the spotlight: the interior defensive line, and most prominently the top trio of Milton Williams, Christian Barmore and Cory Durden. They know it, too.
“He’s one of the best in the league. If they keep him clean, he has a clean pocket, he can make any throw,” Williams explained. “They have a lot of weapons over there. Good offensive line. If he can play with a clean pocket and time to throw, he can make any throw with any quarterback in this league.”
Whether or not the Patriots can bring pressure remains to be seen, but the Lions have been good at keeping Jared Goff clean so far this season. He has been pressured on only 31.8% of his dropbacks, according to Pro Football Focus, the seventh-lowest number in the league.
It might be time for the Patriots’ interior duo of Williams and Barmore to live up to their quite sizable paychecks.
Block Detroit’s pass rush
There is one universal truth when it comes to passing the football: it’s hard to do so when your quarterback is on his butt. Drake Maye, to his credit, hasn’t had to experience this quite as much as he had to earlier in his career. That said, while he is still pressured at the fourth-highest rate in the NFL this season (43.3%) and ranked eighth in most sacks taken (20).
Those numbers seeing an increase on Sunday could very well happen. The Lions, after all, have shown they can get after the quarterback. Led by edge rusher Aidan Hutchinson and interior lineman Alim McNeill, they are ranked third in the NFL with 27 sacks – 10.5 of those coming from the standout duo.
The Patriots’ problems do not end with the talent Detroit has at its disposal. The team’s own personnel is also a question mark. On the one hand, you have an offensive line that will start yet another different combination along its interior with Ben Brown out at left guard. Greg Van Roten, who started one game in lieu of Mike Onwenu at right guard earlier in the year, and Walter Rouse, who only participated twice on a limited basis in practice this year, are the candidates to replace him, as are current right-side guard Matt Pryor and practice squad elevatee Andrew Rupcich.
In addition, the status of running back Rhamondre Stevenson is also unclear. The sixth-year man suffered a knee injury last Sunday versus Green Bay and like Rouse only practiced twice as a limited participant this week. There are positive signs about his outlook – the Patriots did not elevate a running back to their game day roster – but how involved he will be especially in pass protection has yet to be seen.
At the end of the day, the Patriots will need to find a way to get the job done regardless of the available personnel. Because if they do, their chances of moving the ball through the air do look good against a defense that has been vulnerable at times at the second and third levels.
