Jeremy Bergman’s takeaways:
- Detroit’s dynamic duo dominates thrashings in Germany. Amon-Ra St. Brown had one hell of a “homecoming,” Jahmyr Gibbs enjoyed his international coming-out party, and the Lions invaded New England in Munich. Sunday’s game seemed over from Detroit’s very first drive, which ended when St. Brown hit Christian Gonzalez on an outside route and broke several tackles on a 56-yard catch-and-run score, igniting the Munich crowd. Fluent in German and the son of a German mother, St. Brown endeared himself to fans across the country through his outreach and ceremonies. He carried the German flag during Detroit’s pregame presentations, but St. Brown more than earned their adulation with his play on the field Sunday, finishing with 98 yards and two touchdowns on four catches. Not to be upstaged, Gibbs had the all-time afternoon. The Offensive Player of the Year candidate had 252 total yards (171 in the first half alone) and two scores on 29 touches, becoming just the second player with four games of at least 200 yards from scrimmage and two touchdowns before the age of 25 (Hall of Famer LaDainian Tomlinson, five), according to NFL Research. Gibbs regularly puts Pats defensemen on skates on the Allianz field, making them look ridiculous for the second week in a row. It was a near-perfect vacation for Honolulu’s boys in blue, but Aidan Hutchinson’s injury in the first quarter put a damper on proceedings. Hutchinson celebrated a sack of Drake Maye by jumping into the air, but when he landed, his right knee buckled, and with it perhaps the Lions’ Super Bowl hopes. Detroit’s defense rebounded against a short-handed New England team, recording five sacks including two by Derrick Moore. But whether the Lions can maintain their offensive and defensive production to overcome the loss of Hutchinson, should he miss extended time, will be something to watch in the coming weeks.
- May Day! May Day! It’s time to sound the alarm on New England’s AFC title defense. A week after blowing their doors to Green Bay in Foxborough, the Patriots were beaten by Detroit on the road. It was bad from the start, as a promising first drive ended in the red zone when Drake Maye was knocked out of the game with an ankle injury. Maye was replaced by Tommy DeVito on the ensuing drive, and from that point on, New England didn’t stand a chance. After their deep pass defense was exploited by the Packers, the Pats lost the short and intermediate passing game to Detroit, leaving Amon-Ra. St. Brown, Jahmyr Gibbs and Co. go wild. Detroit finished with 494 total yards, New England’s most yards given up since Super Bowl LII, at 7.3 yards per play. Field returns by Rhamondre Stevenson and AJ Brown were unsuccessful. Stevenson had more carries (six) than yards (4), giving up most of the repetitions to Corey Kiner, while Brown caught two of six targets for 27 yards before exiting with another injury, this one to his hamstring. Heading into their bye, the Patriots need to do well – in the practice room and on the field – if they plan to return to the postseason.
- Lions keep pace in NFC North; Pats are losing ground. With their Week 10 win, Detroit will enter Week 11 tied for the lead in the ultra-competitive NFC North. The 7-2 Lions are deadlocked with the Bears (on this week’s bye); Sunday’s Vikings-Packers clash will determine the rest of the hierarchy. Importantly, Detroit owns a 2-0 division record with wins over Minnesota and Green Bay, giving it the tiebreaker atop the North for at least another week. A Week 11 matchup with the potentially Baker Mayfield-less Bucs awaits before the final game of the year against Chicago on Thanksgiving Day. As for New England…wow. At the bottom of the AFC playoff standings, the Patriots enter the bye at 5-5 with four games against playoff contenders and three against lowly AFC opponents. For New England to sneak into the No. 7 seed, it will need at least one win against the Bills, Vikings, Chiefs or Broncos, and no games lost against the Chargers, Jets and Dolphins. Easier said than done for a team that could be without its starting QB and WR for a while, and has been without a competent defense for two straight weeks.
Next-Gen Stats Preview for Patriots-Lions (via NFL Pro): Patriots LT Will Campbell allowed six pressures on 33 pass blocks (18.2% pressure rate) in the Patriots’ Week 10 loss to the Lions, tied for the most pressures allowed and the highest pressure rate allowed by Campbell in a game this season. Campbell allowed two sacks, including one to Aidan Hutchinson, which led to Drake Maye leaving the game. Campbell allowed just 0.5 sacks through the first nine weeks of the season.
NFL Research: The Patriots have allowed at least 35 points in consecutive games for the first time since Weeks 1 and 2 of 1994. This is the Patriots’ third game this season allowing at least 35 points, their most in a single season since 1990, when they allowed 35 or more points five times. New England has now lost five games this season after losing just four games in 2025, including the playoffs.
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