Tom Brady, Patriots dominate first quarter vs. Lions

They say the third preseason game is the dress rehearsal for every NFL team. If that’s the case, the Detroit Lions may want to cancel the show.

It was all New England Patriots in the first quarter of the game. On offense, defense and special teams it was all falling the Patriots’ way. At the end of 15 minutes of play, the score was already 24-0 New England.

Here’s all of the damage after one quarter.

• Yards: Patriots—196; Lions—32
• First downs: Patriots—12; Lions—1
• Turnovers: Patriots—0; Lions-1
• Yards per play: Patriots—9.3; Lions—3.6
• Tom Brady: 10/11, 157 yards, 2 touchdowns, 0 interceptions, 158.3 passer rating

It was a completely slaughter reminiscent of the Lions’ beatdown of the Patriots in the 2013 preseason. That, too, was the Lions’ dress rehearsal game, and the Lions ended up winning 40-9. Of course, Detroit would finish that season just 7-9, while the Patriots finished a division-winning 12-4.

While we can try to spin this and claim that none of this matters at all, it’s completely disheartening to see the Lions come out and lay a complete egg against the best team in football. Sure, it won’t count as a loss, but if this was the measuring stick game that many billed it as, the Lions have a lot of work to do to legitimately compete in this league.