Patriots' passing attack hits rock bottom against Lions

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The Patriots fell to 1-2 on the season with a stunning 26-10 loss in Detroit against former defensive coordinator Matt Patricia. Click here for the boxscore, and here to watch what the coaches, players and analysts were saying after the game.

WHEN THE PATRIOTS HAD THE BALL
Fast start, fast start faststartfaststartfaststart!!!! That was the mantra we heard this week (which is a similar mantra to the one we were hearing late in 2017). Annnnnd, the Patriots went three-and-out on their first three drives against a Lions team that had -- prior to Sunday night -- been run over by the Jets and 49ers to the tune of 357 yards on the ground.

The Patriots' first drive was undone by a run stuff. The second was stopped by a pair of Tom Brady-and-Phil Dorsett missed connections. The third halted when Shaq Mason got driven into the backfield by Ricky Jean-Francois on a third-down piledriving of Sony Michel.

The Patriots have nothing -- absolutely nothing -- to rely on with their passing attack right now. They will complete some throws if their playcall hits against the defense called, but on level ground, Chris Hogan, Cordarelle Patterson and Dorsett are not hard to cover and the throws are contested. They are also contested when they go to Gronk, but at least he’s big enough to wall people off and provide a more substantial target.

I point these things out to make this observation: Sony Michel got the ball a lot because the Patriots can’t throw the ball. Michel finished with 50 yards on 14 carries. The ever-professional James White had another four carries for 37 yards.

Brady had one of those sore thumb games that will stick out on his record -- 14 for 26 for 133 yards and a touchdown. This had nothing to do with his date of birth, everything to do with the supporting cast.

It will improve when Julian Edelman returns. That’s the hope. Maybe it will get a boost as well from Josh Gordon. But for right now, the guys they have are not playing to their capabilities and the discarding of Dwayne Allen on a third-and-1 in the second quarter that led to a squishing of James White is another play I just remembered.

Meanwhile, Gronk – the player Bill Belichick wanted to trade? --  caught four passes for 51 yards. Modest for him, perhaps, but still the only player the Patriots had who provided a matchup edge on their offense on Sunday night.'

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