Bold prediction of the week: Lions pummel Patriots for Patricia’s first win

The New England Patriots come to Ford Field Sunday night in Matt Patricia’s biggest game yet as Detroit Lions head coach, bringing us our bold prediction of the week. Part of a season-long series, it will be exactly as the title indicates: one hot take every week about what will unfold on Sunday.

Bold prediction of the week: Lions beat Patriots by two possessions as Matt Patricia picks up his first (signature) win

Let’s make one thing clear: Sunday night’s game will either be very good or very bad for the Lions; there will not be any in-between. For the former case, Matt Patricia has been advertised as genius rocket scientist. If anyone can figure out Bill Belichick, it will be him. On the other hand, things haven’t gone very well for the Lions the first two weeks, and with Patricia facing the man who probably knows him better than anyone else, things could go awry very quickly.

Last week, Matthew Stafford turned the bold prediction of the week into a reality, throwing for 3 TDs and no interceptions on the day. While he wasn’t always on target, he played clean football and that was a big step up from the Monday Night Meltdown against the New York Jets. For this week, that means it’s time to up the ante with the bold prediction of the week and that means we’re taking the former scenario for Patricia.

With a home crowd that is always electric in prime time and Patricia knowing Belichick’s ways as well as anyone in this league, it’s a possibility (even if rare) that the Lions take over this game and dominate from the first snap to the last. If that were to happen, it would be a big sigh of relief for Lions fans after the mess that the Lions have been in Patricia’s first two weeks as head coach.

It would also be Patricia’s first win, but more importantly, it would easily be a signature win—something Jim Caldwell seemed to lack in his entire tenure with the Lions. With the Patriots favored by seven points, for Patricia to take down Belichick and the Patriots on primetime TV would be a heck of a way to make a statement.

It may not be likely, but that’s why it’s bold: Matt Patricia will lead the Lions to a statement win Sunday night. If anyone can, it’s him.

How do you think Sunday’s game will unfold? Let us know in the comments.