Ups and Downs: Patriots defense shuts down Lions while Zappe shows poise in first career start

FOXBORO -- Well that was more like it. After a worrisome first month of the season, the New England Patriots looked fairly dominant in their Week 5 clash with the Lions, taming the NFL's top-scoring offense to earn a 29-0 victory. They did that with a rookie quarterback making his NFL debut on offense, too.

Bailey Zappe played his part, but it was the New England defense that won the day. They flat-out shut down and shut out the Lions, who entered the game averaging 35 points per contest. The Patriots held them to a big goose egg on Sunday.

Everything is always a lot better following a win, so we'll obviously treat you to a handful of "Ups" and only a few "Downs" from a convincing and much-needed victory by the New England Patriots.

Ups

Defense shuts down best offense in football

The Lions were missing some players, but the Patriots' defense absolutely shut them down on Sunday. The highest-scoring offense in the NFL scored zero points at Gillette Stadium.

The Lions had just 312 total yards on the afternoon, way short of the 436 yards they had averaged over the first four games. And the shutout is even more impressive considering the Lions had been held scoreless in just a single quarter this season leading up to Sunday's game.

The biggest goose egg was on Detroit's fourth-down tries. The Lions were 0-for-6 on fourth down, the first time in NFL history that a team has attempted that many fourth-down tries and failed to convert on any of them. It was just part of an incredibly impressive showing from a Patriots defense that did not let down for 60 minutes.

The Patriots set the tone early. The Lions were able to pick up one first down on their opening possession, but then the D gave them nothing, as Dugger made a nice open-field stick on Kalif Raymond after he hauled in a short pass from Goff for no gain. When Goff took off on third down, Mack Wilson was there to force him out of bounds just short of the chains. On 4th-and-short, Ja'Whaun Bentley swallowed up Jamaal Williams -- with help from big guys Christian Barmore and Davon Godchaux -- to end the drive and give his offense the ball at the Detroit 45.

The second time that the Lions went for it on fourth down ended with Judon sacking Goff, the quarterback fumbling, and Dugger taking it 59 yards for New England's first touchdown.

In the third quarter, Jonathan Jones dropped Amon-Ra St. Brown short of the chains on a Detroit fourth-and-2 to give his offense the ball at their own 34. The Lions came up short on their three fourth-down tries in the fourth quarter, thanks to a pass breakup by Myles Bryant, a big run stuff by Raekwon McMillan, and a PBU by Jack Jones in the end zone for New England.

The Patriots' D held the Lions scoreless in three red zone trips, forced two turnovers, and put six QB hits on Goff -- sacking him twice. Overall, it was a pretty incredible day for the New England defense against a high-powered offense. Or at least against what we thought was a high-powered offense.

Monster day for Rhamondre

Stevenson didn't just run over the Lions. He chewed them up, spit them out, and then ran all over the Lions. 

Stevenson ran wild for a career-high 161 yards on his 25 carries, good for 6.4 yards per attempt. He had a monster 49-yard rush in the first half for the biggest play of the game, and broke a number of tackles throughout the afternoon to gain extra yards.

With Harris going down in the first half, the Patriots needed Stevenson to do his thing and make life easer on Zappe. The running back did just that and a whole lot more, helping the Patriots run their way to the shutout.

After the game, Bill Belichick said twice how much he loves Stevenson. Loves him. That's pretty big.

Jack Jones

The kid makes plays. Plain and simple. He looked like a stud wide receiver on his first-quarter pick of Jared Goff in the red zone.

That was a big play because it kept points off the board for Detroit. He also had a nice PBU in the end zone on Detroit's sixth and final failed attempt on fourth down.

Judon the Beast

Blue sleeves, red sleeves, it doesn't matter for Matthew Judon. He's going to get to the quarterback one way or another.

Judon came up with a sack on a huge third-and-7 for the Lions, bringing down Goff for a loss of nine yards. The takedown knocked the Lions out of field goal range and gave Judon a sack in each of New England's first five games, setting a new franchise record.

He ended Detroit's next possession with another sack, this time adding a forced fumble to the mix when he knocked the ball out of Goff's hands, which led to some big things for the Patriots.

He was a wrecking ball on Sunday with his two sacks and forced fumble. Judon now has at least one sack in each of New England's first five games, setting a new Patriots record. 

Dugger's scoop and score

Dugger picked up that fumble caused by Judon and returned it 59 yards for New England's first touchdown, giving the Patriots a 13-0 lead at the time. It was Dugger's first career touchdown.

Zappe's poise

The rookie didn't look frazzled at any point on Sunday, showing calmness and poise in the pocket. It helped a lot that the offensive line kept him clean and protected, but even when he had to do some dancing, Zappe was able to go through his reads and find the open man.

Zappe completed 17 of his 21 passes for 188 yards, a touchdown, and an interception. And that pick wasn't even his fault. (More on that later.)

Zappe threw a really veteran-like touchdown to Jakobi Meyers, moving up in the pocket before throwing a beautiful pass to Meyers with a corner on the receiver to make it a 26-0 game. He said they practiced that play a lot over the week, and when he saw the Lions were in a Cover 2 defense, was able to find the hole in the coverage and get his receiver the ball.

Is there a QB controversy in New England? No. There shouldn't be. But the team has to be pumped at how well Zappe has played when given an opportunity.

Meyers returns

Jakobi was back and he was his usual self, leading all receivers with seven receptions for 111 yards and a touchdown. 

Five of Meyers' catches went for a first down. One was a 10-yarder on a 2nd-and-14, and the other was his touchdown. 

Hunter Henry checks in

With Jonnu Smith missing the game with an ankle injury, it left Hunter Henry as the only true tight end in the game plan. He came down with four receptions on five targets for 54 yards, after he had just five receptions for 41 yards over the first four weeks.

Nick Folk

The kicker was one of New England's best offensive weapons on Sunday, connecting on all five of his field goal attempts. Folk's incredible connection streak is now up to 63 straight kicks from 50 yards or under.  

Downs

NELSON!

Zappe threw his first career interception, though it was really no fault of his own. That fault goes to Nelson Agholor, who as you may have heard, has a long history of struggling to hold onto the football.

We've seen that with his two fumbles so far this season. Costly fumbles. On Sunday, he found a new way to turn it over, deflecting a drop of his own right to the Detroit defense.

Agholor bobbled the ball when it arrived, and it landed in the hands of diving safety DeShon Elliott at the New England 48. This followed an illegal formation penalty on Kendrick Bourne, marking a rough stretch for New England's receivers.

Red Zone offense

The Patriots really need to clean it up in the red zone, going 0-for-4 on their trips inside the 20 against Detroit. They are 1-for-6 over the last two games in the red area and just 6-for-15 for the season.

Harris Injury

Damien Harris had to depart the game with a hamstring injury, leaving Stevenson the only running back on the active roster for the majority of Sunday's game.

If Harris has to miss time, the Patriots have Pierre Strong Jr., Kevin Harris, and J.J. Taylor as candidates to take some carries.