Patriots Cruise Past Detroit 31-3 in Preseason Opener

Friday, August 09, 2019

Joe Calabro, GoLocalWorcester Sports Team

Jamie Collins led a dominant Patriots defense. PHOTO: Jeffrey Beall/Wikipedia

The New England Patriots cruised to a 31-3 victory over the Detroit Lions on Thursday night in their preseason opener.

Many of the starters for both teams, including Tom Brady, did not play in the game.

"It’s always good to get through that first preseason game. We played a lot of players, had a lot of situations come up, had a lot of opportunities to do different things. So we will evaluate all those in film and try to build on it," said Patriots head coach Bill Belichick after the game.

See Five Takeaways in the Slideshow Below

Patriots Cruise

New England got on the board in the first quarter when quarterback Brian Hoyer connected with Maurice Harris on a 14-yard touchdown pass to give the Patriots a 7-0 lead following a Stephen Gostkowski extra point.

The score remained 7-0 until Hoyer found undrafted rookie Jakobi Meyers in the end zone on a three-yard pass to give the Patriots a 14-0 lead after a Gostkowski extra point.

Hoyer went 12 of 14 for 147 yards and two touchdowns in a little over a quarter of action.

“Everybody did a great job, I mean I didn’t get touched all night. When your quarterbacking and your not getting touched back there it allows you to make some good throws and some guys made great catches,” said Hoyer after the game.

Meyers would catch another touchdown pass later in the quarter, this one out of the hands of rookie Jarrett Stidham to give the Patriots a 20-0 lead.

New England went for a two-point conversion, but were not able to convert.

Stidham completed 14 of 24 passes for 179 yards and a touchdown in his NFL debut.

"I thought our overall passing game was pretty efficient. Quarterbacks got the ball out on time, receivers caught the ball and we protected fairly well,” Belichick added.

The Patriots took a 20-0 lead into the half.

In the third quarter, running back Nick Brossette ran in a touchdown from one-yard out to put the Patriots up 28-0 after he also converted a two-point conversion.

Gostowski added a field goal in the fourth quarter to make the score 31-0.

Detroit would get on the board in the final minutes on a Ryan Santoso field goal, making the final score 31-3.

Next Up

The Patriots will play preseason game two on Saturday, August 17 when they visit the Tennessee Titans.

Game time is set for 7:30 p.m.

See Five Takeaways in the Slideshow Below

Related Slideshow: 5 Takeaways from Patriots Preseason Win Over Detroit - August 8, 2019

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Patriots Defense

The Patriots defense combined for nine sacks and an interception on Thursday night against Detroit’s backups

The defense was led by third-year player Derek Rivers, who had two sacks in the game.

Rivers tore his ACL during training camp of his rookie season, and then got injured again six games into last season.

Jamie Collins, Ja’Whaun Bentley, Danny Shelton, and Chase Winovich also added sacks.

While Collins, Bentley and Shelton appear to be locks, Winovich is in a battle for a roster spot at the defensive end position.

Midway through the second quarter, edge defender John Simon intercepted Detroit’s David Fales at the line of scrimmage.

Overall, New England’s defense held the Lions to just 93 yards of total offense.

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Jarrett Stidham

Rookie quarterback Jarrett Stidham played about three-quarters of Thursday night's game after taking over for Brian Hoyer.

Stidham completed 14 of 24 passes for 179 yards and one touchdown in his first NFL game.

“I had a great time. This is my first NFL experience, getting to play. I had a lot of fun, a lot to improve on. I’m looking forward to watching the film tomorrow, but overall I just had fun,” said Stidham after the game.

Stidham showed that he can make all the throws.

Throughout the game, he threw deep balls, balls over the middle with pressure in his face and throws to running backs in the flat, specifically on the two-point conversion in the third quarter.

When the pocket did collapse on him, he was able to escape and pick up yards with his legs. He rushed for 16 yards on four attempts.

With Tom Brady's future uncertain following his recent contract, Stidham's preseason reps could be crucial.

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Tight Ends

Both tight ends Ben Watson and Matt LaCosse saw action for the Patriots in Thursday night’s game.

LaCosse led the way with two catches for 37 yards in the game before limping off the field.

New England has very little depth at the tight end position heading into the season so a serious injury to LaCosse would be a blow.

Watson had one catch over the middle for 14 yards.

Watson is suspended for the first four weeks of the season due to PED use.

PHOTO: Patriots media website

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N'Keal Harry

Patriots 2019 first-round pick N’Keal Harry played just the first quarter of the game on Thursday night before leaving with an injury.

In that time, Harry hauled in two catches for 36 yards.

Harry’s first catch came on the Patriots first-quarter touchdown drive with just under four minutes to play in the first quarter.

His second and final catch came with under a minute to play in the first quarter when he leaped our a defender to pull the ball in.

Following the catch, he limped off the field and did not return to the game.

Earlier this week, Harry was limited in practice with a hamstring injury.

PHOTO: Patriots media website

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Jakobi Meyers

Undrafted rookie Jakobi Meyers made his presence known in the Patriots first preseason game.

Meyers hauled six catches for 69 yards and two touchdowns in the game.

His first touchdown catch came in the second quarter on a three-yard pass from Brian Hoyer to put the Patriots up 14-0.

His second touchdown came late in the second quarter on a five-yard pass from rookie Jarrett Stidham.

“I was getting texts about how I was doing great in practice, but it doesn’t mean anything cause we didn’t have a game yet, so just the fact that I can go out there and show that I deserve to be here, for now,” said Meyers after the game.

According to reports from Training Camp, Meyers has impressed to this point, even getting praise from Tom Brady.

"He's done a great job and he's taken advantage of his opportunities," said Brady earlier this week.

Meyers is in a battle to get a roster spot at a crowded wide receiver position.

Meyers is battling players such as Harry, Braxton Berrios, and newcomer Cameron Meredith among others.

“I have to keep proving to my coaches that I deserve to be here. I’m not on the team yet, I have to make sure I can stay here and continue to be here,” added Meyers.

PHOTO: Patriots media website