Patriots Rookie vs. Lions veteran

John Boarman (Tireball Sports)

The New England Patriots, sitting at 1-3, will be facing the Detroit Lions, Oct. 9, at 1 p.m. EST.  

Both teams are stuck at one win to three losses right now in the season, but who will come out on top during this game? 

The New England Patriots will have to be using their third string and rookie quarterback, Bailey Zappe, against Jared Goff and the Lions.  

Zappe will be accompanied by Nelson Agholor, Damien Harris, and Rhamondre Stevenson, but the newcomer has only played in one game.  

Mac Jones is out for another four to six weeks due to an ankle injury and Brian Hoyer was placed on the injured reserves because of the concussion he sustained in last weeks’ game against the Packers.  

In Week four, Zappe managed to throw 10 completions out of 15 attempts for 99 yards but was sacked three times and fumbled the ball once. If Zappe is going to be able to lead the Patriots to a victory, the offensive line is going to need to double their protection around the quarterback to prevent injury and give him time to throw the ball.  

In comparison, Jared Goff is a six-year NFL veteran who has thrown for more than 22,000 yards. In just the 2022 season, Goff has 92 completions for 151 attempts and thrown for 1,126 yards and 11 touchdowns so far.  

Currently, the Lions are first in the NFL for points scored per game as well as total yards per game while the Patriots are 23rd and 19th in the same categories.  

All stops will have to be pulled out to win the game against the Lions, but it is possible that the loss of Jones, Hoyer, and Jakobi Meyers could be enough to prevent the Patriots from gaining momentum.

The Patriots defense will have to interrupt Jamaal Williams from leading the Lions’ rushing game as well as shut down the Lions receivers so Goff would have two choices: run the ball or get sacked.