Lions vs. Patriots preview podcast: Why Jamaal Williams could have another big game

The Detroit Lions and New England Patriots are both in desperate times. With each team sitting at 1-3, the year is on the verge of complete collapse just a month into the season. And while that’s not completely unexpected from either team, it’s certainly a disappointment from each fan base.

The Patriots have long been a feared team that is well-coached and stocked with talent. However, this year they are far from the entity that has reigned supreme for the better part of two decades. Not only are they likely starting a third-string rookie quarterback this Sunday, but the only thing they seem to do consistently well is run the football. A one-dimensional team like that typically doesn’t win a lot of football games.

Of course, the Lions are one-dimensional in their own right, meaning they can play a lot of good offense, but can’t play a lick of defense right now.

So to figure out which team has the edge this week, we talked to our good friend Brian Phillips. Phillips has a unique perspective on this game, because while he’s formerly a contributor with our friends at Pats Pulpit, he has long resided in Michigan and knows his Lions football.

And unlike our contact in our Five Questions series, Phillips does not feel very optimistic about the Patriots’ chances this week. Specifically, he thinks the Lions’ well-schemed rushing attack is going to give New England’s poor set of linebackers big trouble on Sunday.

“I know Detroit has that ability (to run), because I watched that damn Seattle game and they were nasty,” Phillips said. “I know the Lions have a lot of gap-scheme stuff they can do to get guys moving and keying on guys and getting them out of position and gapped out.

“So that’s where I’m nervous. If (D’Andre) Swift does play, I’m very nervous. But I think Jamaal Williams is going to have a big game.”

We break down every matchup from Sunday’s game on this week’s podcast and make some predictions, too. If you want to feel a little more optimistic about this week, I promise you’re going to want to listen to this episode.

You can catch this podcast—along with our entire catalogue of audio content—but subscribing to the PODcast on any of the following platforms: Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, or iHeartRadio. Follow Pride Of Detroit on Twitch to get notified when we record the PODcast live and chat with us. Video replays are available on Twitch and highlights can be founded on YouTube.