For his career, Lions quarterback Jared Goff has a record of 101-67-1 as a starter. That’s a 59.7-percent win rate.
Against the Patriots, Goff is 1-3. That’s a 25-percent win rate.
In those four games, Goff has two touchdown passes and five interceptions.
Sunday’s game in Germany will be the first one against the Patriots with a coach other than Bill Belichick. Goff has never faced current Patriots coach Mike Vrabel; during Goff’s time as a starter with the Rams and Lions and Vrabel’s tenure with the Titans, their two teams never crossed paths.
Goff’s first loss to New England came in 2016, in his third career start. The Patriots won, 26-10. Two years later, New England beat Goff and the Rams in the Super Bowl, 13-3.
In 2020, the Patriots beat Goff and the Rams, 24-3. In 2022, the Patriots beat Goff and the Lions, 29-0.
Sunday’s game is consequential for both teams. The 6-2 Lions are caught in a cluster of four NFC North teams that all have six or more wins. The Patriots, at 5-4, are fading in the AFC East race and could be scrambling to secure a wild-card spot.
Lions Clips
The Patriots have several players listed as questionable for Sunday’s game against the Lions in Madrid.
A.J. Brown (ankle/knee) and running back Rhamondre Stevenson (knee) are among them.
Brown was listed as limited on all three injury reports this week. Stevenson was limited on Thursday and Friday after he was a non-participant on Wednesday.
Safety Kevin Byard (chest), fullback Reggie Gilliam (knee), tight end Cameron Latu (back), offensive lineman Walter Rouse (concussion protocol), offensive lineman Greg Van Roten (hamstring), and cornerback Charles Woods (hamstring) are also questionable.
Offensive tackle Morgan Moses (foot), tight end Hunter Henry (foot), and quarterback Drake Maye (right shoulder) are all off the injury report and are set to play.
Offensive lineman Ben Brown (knee), cornerback Carlton Davis (knee), and running back TreVeyon Henderson (illness) were ruled out earlier this week as they didn’t travel to Europe.
Officially, Lions wide receiver Amon-Ra St. Brown is questionable for Sunday’s game against the Patriots in Germany with a rib injury. Unofficially, it is extraordinarily unlikely that St. Brown would miss this game.
St. Brown has always been more than willing to play through injuries, and this game means a lot to him because his mother is German, he speaks fluent German, and he has been circling this game on his calendar as an important one for him personally.
Three Lions have been ruled out: safety Kerby Joseph, center Cade Mays and cornerback DJ Reed. Joining St. Brown as questionable is running back Sione Vaki.
Other Lions dealing with injuries this week are quarterback Jared Goff, safety Brian Branch, running back Jacob Saylors and pass rusher DJ Wonnum, but they all practiced in full the last two days and will be good to go on Sunday.
Lions quarterback Jared Goff was listed as a limited participant in practice on Wednesday, but it doesn’t look like there will be an issue with his availability for Sunday’s game against the Patriots.
Goff, who is listed with a chest injury, was upgraded to full participation on Thursday. The team will issue a final injury report for their game in Munich on Friday.
Safety Brian Branch (hip) moved up to full participation as well. Running back Jacob Saylors (neck, hamstring) and defensive end DJ Wonnum (concussion) remained full participants.
Wide receiver Amon-Ra St. Brown (rib) was limited for the second straight day and running back Sione Vaki (ankle) remained out of practice. The Lions have already ruled out safety Kerby Joseph (knee), center Cade Mays (ankle), and cornerback D.J. Reed (hip).
The Patriots had some positive news on their injury report from Thursday’s reportedly light practice in Munich.
Running back Rhamondre Stevenson (knee) was upgraded from a non-participant on Wednesday to a limited participant on Thursday.
Stevenson leads the Pats with 399 yards rushing with two touchdowns. He’s also caught 26 passes for 258 yards with two TDs.
Receiver A.J. Brown (ankle/knee) may also be back this week, as he was limited for the second practice in a row. He has not played since the Oct. 22 loss to the Bears.
Tight end Cameron Latu (back), offensive lineman Walter Rouse (concussion protocol), safety and Brenden Schooler (hamstring) were also upgraded from DNP to limited.
Safety Kevin Byard (chest), fullback Reggie Gilliam (knee), tight end Hunter Henry (foot), offensive tackle Morgan Moses (foot), offensive lineman Greg Van Roten (hamstring), and cornerback Charles Woods (hamstring) all remained limited.
Quarterback Drake Maye (right shoulder) is again listed as full.
New England previously ruled out offensive lineman Ben Brown (knee), cornerback Carlton Davis (knee), and running back TreVeyon Henderson (illness) who all did not travel this week.
When the Lions meet the Patriots in Munich on Sunday, the fans in Germany are likely to see both teams go for it on fourth down.
That’s because Lions head coach Dan Campbell has long been the league’s most aggressive coach on fourth downs, and this year, Patriots coach Mike Vrabel is No. 2.
Coaches’ fourth down decisions are tracked for the Aggressiveness Index at FTN Fantasy, looking at how often coaches go for it compared to other coaches in the same situation. By that measurement, Campbell is first with a score of 1.45 (meaning he goes for it 45 percent more than an average NFL coach) and Vrabel is second with a score of 1.22.
The Aggressiveness Index is a more detailed way of tracking a coach’s fourth-down decision making than simply looking at the number of times a team has gone for it on fourth down. Some teams go for it often on fourth down not because the coach is aggressive, but because they happen to face a lot of fourth-and-shorts while trailing late in the fourth quarter. That’s not a particularly aggressive time to go for it.
What gives Campbell such a high score on the Aggressiveness Index is decisions like going for it on fourth down at his own 24-yard line with the score tied late in the fourth quarter against the Packers. That’s the kind of call that Campbell makes and other coaches don’t, which is why his Aggressiveness Index is so much higher than any other coach’s.
Campbell is at or near the top of the Aggressiveness Index every year. Last year he was second only to Mike Kafka, who was very aggressive on fourth downs during his seven-game stint as the Giants’ interim head coach. Perhaps unsurprisingly, after Kafka was not retained by the Giants, Campbell hired him to be the Lions’ passing game coordinator.
Vrabel has not been as aggressive as Campbell on fourth downs, but he has been more aggressive than the average NFL coach, both during his time with the Patriots and before that as head coach of the Titans. Both Vrabel and Campbell are former players with reputations for a blend of old-school toughness and a new-school understanding of the strategic advantages of aggressive fourth-down decision making. It’s a winning combination.
The Patriots ruled three players out for Sunday’s game against the Lions in Munich on Wednesday, but there was some encouraging news about wide receiver A.J. Brown.
Brown was a limited participant in practice after missing the last two games with a knee injury. Brown was also listed as out on the team’s last five practice reports.
Guard Ben Brown (knee), cornerback Carlton Davis (knee), and running back TreVeyon Henderson (illness) were the three players ruled out. Tight end Cameron Latu (back), guard Walter Rouse (concussion), safety Brenden Schooler (hamstring), and running back Rhamondre Stevenson (knee) were also out of practice for New England.
Safety Kevin Byard (chest), fullback Reggie Gilliam (knee), tight end Hunter Henry (foot), right tackle Morgan Moses (foot), guard Greg Van Roten (hamstring), and cornerback Charles Woods (hamstring) joined Brown as limited participants. Quarterback Drake Maye (right shoulder) was a full participant.
Christian Mahogany will return as the Lions’ starting left guard on Sunday, a week after his benching for a violation of team rules.
Mahogany apologized to the team Wednesday morning and was back with the first-team offense in the afternoon.
Coach Dan Campbell has said only that Mahogany broke a team rule “multiple times,” but did not elaborate. Mahogany wouldn’t either when he spoke Wednesday.
“I’m not going to [say what the rule was] either. I’m not going to disobey him,” Mahogany said, via Will Burchfield of 97.1 The Ticket. “It sucks what happened, but I have to grow up, and I have to stop breaking team rules. It is what it is. I let my teammates down. I let my organization down, and it won’t ever happen again.”
Campbell’s four team rules are: Don’t be late; keep your weight in check; don’t disrespect your teammates, and don’t disrespect the game. Mahogany first landed in trouble in training camp when he was briefly placed on the non-football injury list.
His absence in Sunday’s win over the Dolphins was noticeable as his replacement, Miles Frazier, had a rough afternoon.
“You just gotta eat it on the chin,” Mahogany said of his benching. “That’s who I am. I’m not a person that’s gonna sulk. It sucked not being out there, because I let my teammates down. I don’t want to do that. I did, and that’s on me.”
Quarterback Jared Goff landed on the Lions’ first injury report of the week.
Goff was listed as a limited participant in practice. A chest injury is given as the reason for Goff’s presence on the report.
There’s been no indication of Goff being at risk of missing Sunday’s game against the Patriots in Germany and the next two days should bring more information about his condition heading into Week 10.
Center Cade Mays (ankle), cornerback D.J. Reed (hip), and running back Sione Vaki (ankle) did not practice. Mays and Reed were both inactive in last Sunday’s win over the Dolphins.
Safety Brian Branch (hip), safety Kerby Joseph (knee), and wide receiver Amon-Ra St. Brown (rib) were limited participants. Running back Jacob Saylors (neck, hamstring) and defensive end DJ Wonnum (concussion) were full participants.
For the first time since 2024, Jake Bates is the NFC special teams player of the week.
Bates was an essential part of Detroit’s 19-9 victory over Miami on Sunday, hitting all four of his field goals and his only extra point attempt in the contest.
Bates’ field goals were from 28, 40, 33, and 43 yards.
Bates previously won special teams player of the week for his Week 7 and his Week 10 performance in 2024. He is now the third Lions kicker ro earn three special teams player of the week awards, joining Jason Hanson and Matt Prater.
