Patriots-Lions Week 5 predictions
BOSTON -- It will be an old school weekend at Gillette Stadium, with the Patriots throwing it back with their beloved red and white uniforms of the past.
The Patriots have worn these throwbacks before when facing off with the Detroit Lions, all the way back on Thanksgiving of 2010. New England scored 21 fourth-quarter points that afternoon to earn a 45-24 victory.
Devin McCourty and Matthew Slater are the only players who remain from that game. (Brian Hoyer was on the roster too, but he was placed on IR on Thursday.) So a whole new crop of Patriots will get to don those throwbacks -- and the awesome Pat Patriot helmets -- for the first time.
No matter what the Patriots are wearing, and no matter who is quarterback, New England needs a win after falling to 1-3 last Sunday. The Lions are also 1-3, but they are not a good football team. At least the jury is still deliberating about the Patriots at this early point in the season.
Here is how the WBZ-TV and CBS Boston sports team sees Sunday's game at Gillette playing out:
Steve Burton, WBZ-TV Sports
The Patriots are trending up despite last week's loss in Green Bay. This team is moving in the right direction.
Mac Jones needs to get healthy, but the Patriots can certainly beat Detroit with Bailey Zappe at quarterback.
Patriots 21, Lions 17
Dan Roche, WBZ-TV Sports
Both teams come in at 1-3, but that's it for comparisons. Detroit is not a very good football team. The Patriots need to show that Sunday's loss in Green Bay was a game where the "building their identity" continued. All that matters this weekend is getting a win -- no matter who is at quarterback.
Patriots 27, Lions 17
Michael Hurley, CBS Boston
Damien Harris and Rhamondre Stevenson will run for 250 yards and four or five touchdowns. The Lions will score some points but will also make some back-breaking mistakes, because their head coach is Dan Campbell. Quarterbacks coach Mark Brunell will get emotional about air pressure. Bailey Zappe will improve to 1-0 in his NFL career. Years later, we'll all look back and wonder if this game actually happened or whether it was one strange fever dream.
Patriots 35, Lions 27
Matthew Geagan, CBS Boston
Even if they're starting a rookie quarterback, this needs to be a "get right" week for the Patriots. The Lions have a really talented offense, but some key players will either be missing or will be playing banged up. And the Detroit defense is putrid, so the Patriots should be able to score some points.
Expect a big day from the two-headed running monster of Damien Harris and Rhamondre Stevenson, which will make life a lot easier on Bailey Zappe in his first career start.
Patriots 31, Lions 17
We've got Sunday's Patriots-Lions game covered for you, starting at 11:30am with Patriots GameDay. After the game, you can watch Patriots 5th Quarter streaming on CBSBoston.com and on TV38 following Revolution-Fire FC coverage!
