Game Observations: 8 Takeaways from the Patriots’ Week 10 Loss to the Lions in Munich

MUNICH – The Patriots’ struggles in international play continued in a 35-10 loss to the Lions at Allianz Arena in Germany on Sunday.

Over the past few years, I’ve had the chance to cover Patriots games in three different European cities, which is no easy feat. The Pats fans in Frankfurt, London and now Munich have been great. There’s a real interest in the team here, and a genuine childlike excitement about seeing their favorite team up close for people who stay up at all hours of the day attending Patriots games, usually thousands of miles away.

Unfortunately, the Patriots didn’t hold up their end of the bargain. In 2023, we witnessed the final days of the Bill Belichick and Mac Jones eras when the Pats lost 10-6 to the Colts in nearby Frankfurt. The following season, the Patriots fell to the Jaguars 32-16 during quarterback Drake Maye’s rookie season in London. For a packed fan base, these are two disappointing results that don’t reflect the Patriots’ overseas support.

On Sunday, the Patriots’ struggles on the other side of the Atlantic continued. Maye (ankle) was knocked out just 10 plays into the game, with backup quarterback Tommy DeVito replacing him, as New England’s season of injuries and defensive regression continued. Without Maye, the Patriots’ offense was ineffective; he was the one player the Pats simply couldn’t afford to lose to injury. Like most teams, the Patriots offense struggled without its starting quarterback.

After losing its starting quarterback 10 plays into the game, the Patriots offense produced just 81 total yards on 45 plays (1.8 yards per play). On a drive with Maye, New England kicked a 70-yard field goal. Obviously, it’s not fair to blame all of this on DeVito, but it puts into perspective how Maye-centric New England’s offense has become.

Although the air goes out of the ball for any team that loses its starting quarterback, the Patriots defense is a real problem. In back-to-back weeks against the Packers and Lions, the Pats’ opponents generated 24 explosive plays, with Detroit’s stars showing off with a 56-yard touchdown run by Amon-Ra St. Brown and a huge day for Lions RB Jahmyr Gibbs (252 yards from scrimmage, 2 TDs). For a defense that led the Patriots to Super Bowl LX in 2025, the principles of a Vrabel-Kuhr-led unit have mostly fallen by the wayside.

“When you play tough teams in this league and you don’t play well, you don’t have a chance,” head coach Mike Vrabel said after the game. “We’re 0-0. We’re heading into the bye and we have to fix and change and fix some things.”

With the Patriots losing three of their last four NFC North games and their starting quarterback injured, New England must decide whether to fight to regain control of their season during the bye, with their next game in Los Angeles against the Chargers in Week 12, or let this season slip through their fingers.

Here are eight takeaways as the Patriots fall to 5-5 after a Week 10 loss to the Lions.

1. Quarterback Drake Maye (ankle) suffered 10 injuries in Sunday’s game and does not return against the Lions

The Patriots’ bad luck with injuries hit rock bottom 10 games before Sunday’s loss to the Lions, when star quarterback Drake Maye left the game with an ankle injury. Maye moved the Patriots’ offense into the red zone with three successful pass plays and an 11-yard run, adding +0.44 EPA per dropback. However, he injured his ankle when Lions passer Aidan Hutchinson sacked him, blocking the Patriots’ first drive (Hutchinson was also injured on the play).

New England heads into a Week 11 bye, giving Maye two weeks off before the Patriots’ next game. Yet things went from bad to worse on the injury front. Speaking after the game, head coach Mike Vrabel provided an update on Maye’s condition after he did not return to the game due to his ankle injury.

“I know it was a lower leg injury. I don’t know the exact details of it, but I know he couldn’t fit,” Vrabel said.

2. The struggles continue for Patriots WR AJ Brown in an injury-plagued season

After missing the last two games with a knee injury, Brown had two catches for 27 yards on six targets in his return Sunday, but was interrupted by another hamstring injury. Brown added a hamstring injury to his best play of the day: a 22-yard slant catch in the second half. Aside from his first 30 snaps of the season in Seattle, Brown hasn’t looked like himself, with a sprained ankle and lingering knee issue that flared in the first 10 weeks.

When he is on the field, Brown struggles to make contact plays on his downfield targets. At this point in his career, Brown isn’t a great splitter, so he has to win by outplaying corners at the catch point. Unfortunately, he wasn’t able to do this consistently, as shown on a stop target where he couldn’t create a vertical push to separate underneath and get back to the ball, and the pass went through his hands on a contested catch.

At this point in the season, Brown isn’t giving the Patriots much offense, so perhaps it’s time for New England to chalk this up to a lost season for the star receiver.

3. CB Christian Gonzalez up and down in game against Lions WR Amon-Ra St. Brown

After his worst game as a professional against the Packers in Week 9, there was talk all week about Gonzalez’s performance declining, with the Patriots’ star cornerback in need of a bounce-back game.

It was a mixed bag on Sunday for Gonzalez, who followed Lions star WR Amon-Ra St. Brown on 16 routes, even traveling into the slot with St. Brown, who we don’t see often. Gonzalez gave up a 56-yard touchdown to St. Brown on the Lions’ opening drive and was the primary coverage defender on St. Brown’s 28-yard screen touchdown. On the positive side, Gonzalez recorded his first interception of the season covering St. Brown.