Predictions: New England Patriots Will Roll Past Detroit Lions

The New England Patriots will be in search of their ninth win of the season when they play host to the Detroit Lions this Sunday in Foxboro.

This meeting pairs Detroit’s top-ranked defense against Tom Brady and one of the NFL’s most potent offensive units. Something will have to give as only one of these division leaders will emerge victorious.

Here at Chowder and Champions we take great joy in attempting to predict each game every week. Here’s our take on this week’s contest:

–Frank O’Laughlin’s prediction

I stumbled upon one stat that I feel will be the difference in the game on Sunday after spending some time researching the Detroit Lions. The fact that quarterback Matthew Stafford is winless (0-15) in his career on the road against opponents who finished the season with winning records is downright atrocious. With that being said, huge advantage to the Patriots. Let’s not forget to factor in the Patriots dominance at home, specifically Tom Brady’s success in cold-weather games.

All the talk this week has been about the Lions top-ranked defense. Many say the Patriots won’t be able to establish the run with Ndamukong Suh and company clogging the middle. The physicality of the Patriots offensive line often goes overlooked and it deserves more credit. They won’t rush for 200+ yards as a unit, but they’ll operate with enough sufficiency to be successful.

Two things come to mine when taking a look at the Lions secondary. One is the fact that not a single player has the capability of slowing Rob Gronkowski. He’s been dominating the opposition this season and this week will be no different. And secondly, lets face facts, it’s a mediocre group at best that is often bailed out by the play of defensive line. Tom Brady will shred the Lions if the blocking up front is respectable.

I feel Stafford will be hard pressed to make enough offensive plays to keep pace with the Patriots offense. Darrelle Revis and Brandon Browner will certainly slow down Golden Tate and Calvin Johnson. I look for the Patriots front seven to create pressure as they have routinely been doing.

Lastly, Jim Caldwell is not going to out coach Bill Belichick. I just don’t see it happening and for obvious reasons.

Final Score: Patriots 34, Lions 17

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-Matthew Rewinski’s prediction

What’s impressive about this year’s Detroit Lions is that, when everything clicks, they finally look like more than the sum of their parts, as opposed to a 15-year-old playing Madden and throwing jump balls to Calvin Johnson in triple coverage every play.

And for once, Detroit’s defense is what’s keeping them in games, instead of gunslinging and scrambling. The Seahawks’ Legion of Boom secondary got all the credit for their defensive excellence last year, but it’s the front 7 that make defenses like that click, and the brick-wall play of Detroit’s defensive line in particular has made everyone around them better as a result. The Lions defense consistently brings pressure to the quarterback without a lot of blitzing, and that approach can force just as many mistakes as a blitz-obsessed defense like Rex Ryan’s can. That pressure’s allowed linebackers like DeAndre Levy and previous average Joes like Glover Quin and James Ihedigbo to flourish.

Need further proof the front 4 is legit? They’re holding opponents to an average of 3.0 yards per carry and just over 68 per game, TOTAL, which, these days, is a great game if you’re Trent Richardson, but a pretty miserable outing for anyone else. New England’s going to have to play some solid dink-and-dunk passing football to move down the field, and look for a heavy dose of Gronkowski/Tim Wright two-tight-end sets, especially in the red zone.

Another great chess match should be the Lions offense and Patriots defense. There’s a lot of Julian Edelman’s style in Lions WR Golden Tate, in the sense that both guys pile up yards after the catch and just drool at the prospect of being matched up one-on-one with a DB. Slot corner Kyle Arrington has a tall order in front of him. Look for Bill Belichick to mix up and disguise man coverage and zone coverage on a situational basis to take advantage of Matt Stafford’s tendency to just let it rip when he doesn’t know what else to do, especially if the Patriots can get consistent edge rushing going.

Final Score: Patriots 27, Lions 14.

-Dylan Smith’s prediction

Not too sure that the Lions offense will be able to matchup with the Patriots offense this Sunday. I expect Browner to limit the amount of touches that Megatron receives and force Stafford to look elsewhere. Early on it¹ll be interesting to see how the Patriots protect Brady, especially when the monster Ndamukong Suh is pressuring them. In the end I think the

Patriots will wear out the Lions defense and pull out another convincing victory at home.

Final Score: Patriots 31, Lions 14

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