For fans of the Detroit Lions who were hoping to be able to stick it to former head coach Matt Patricia this afternoon at Gillette Stadium, they’ll have to wait for another opportunity. The new ‘de facto’ offensive coordinator for the New England Patriots, whom he won several Super Bowl titles with while serving as defensive coordinator before his ill-fated tenure as Lions coach, helped guide the Patriots to a 29-0 shutout victory over his former squad.
Adding even more insult to injury was the fact that 3rd string quarterback Bailey Zappe, making his first career NFL start, earned the win with ease.
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The Lions suffered their first shutout loss in two years, as their high-powered offense which had led the rest of the NFL up until this afternoon was neutralized effectively by the host Patriots. However, that isn’t the worst part of this afternoon’s game. Cornerback Saivion Smith had to be stabilized by a backboard and loaded into an ambulance after suffering a neck injury early in the 1st quarter; the entire team gathered around their fallen teammate as medical personnel worked on him.
The Lions also made a bit of unfortunate NFL history, becoming the first team ever to fail to convert a fourth down with six or more tries in a game. The last team to do so, coincidently, was the Patriots in 1995 during a 5-0 loss to the Denver Broncos.
Detroit will now, unfortunately, have to dwell on the sting of this loss for two weeks, as they’re not in action next week thanks to the bye. And as you can imagine, Lions fans are certainly frustrated with the current state of the team. Take a look at a sampling of some responses on social media that began pouring in.
