{"id":1052435,"date":"2026-11-12T02:57:16","date_gmt":"2026-11-12T02:57:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/1052435\/"},"modified":"2026-11-12T02:57:16","modified_gmt":"2026-11-12T02:57:16","slug":"patriots-defense-aims-for-redemption-against-another-tough-nfc-north-foe","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/1052435\/","title":{"rendered":"Patriots\u2019 defense aims for redemption against another tough NFC North foe"},"content":{"rendered":"

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tLocal News\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/a><\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\tAfter surrendering a season-high 45 points in last week’s debacle against the Packers, the Patriots will take on the Lions on Sunday in Munich.<\/p>\n

\"Green
\n\tChristian Gonzalez had a miserable night against both Christian Watson and Matthew Golden. (Danielle Parhizkaran\/Globe Staff)\t<\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tBy Khari Thompson, The Boston Globe\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tNovember 11, 2026\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

3 minutes to read<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t <\/p>\n

FOXBOROUGH \u2014 The upcoming trip to Munich will give the Patriots\u2019 defense a chance to show its performance in last Sunday\u2019s 45-27 loss<\/a> to the Packers at Gillette Stadium was more of an aberration than a marker of where the unit stands.<\/p>\n

The 45 points the Patriots surrendered last week were the most in a home game since 1970.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have something to prove every week, but obviously after giving up 45 points that\u2019s nowhere near who we are,\u201d said safety Kevin Byard. \u201cWe have to get back to who we are and we\u2019re very eager to prove that this week.\u201d<\/p>\n

Linebacker Robert Spillane said the Patriots are at a critical point in the season. Sunday\u2019s clash with the Lions is the 10th game of the season and the last before the bye week. A win would help the Patriots (5-4) remain above .500. But, Spillane said, there\u2019s a big difference in the NFL between being 6-4 and 5-5.<\/p>\n

The defense hopes to answer questions the blowout loss raised about its effectiveness.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m really excited to see our defense go out there with a chip on our shoulder, knowing that people are counting us out, knowing that people are going to say whatever they want,\u201d Spillane said. \u201cWe\u2019re going to go out there and trust each other and work together to be connected as 11 on every play.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Lions running back Jahmyr Gibbs leads the league with 177 carries and is tied for second with nine touchdown runs. \u2013 Doug Murray<\/p>\n

The Lions could pose another tough test against another NFC North opponent. They are top-five in both points per game (27.8) and yards per game (379.8). Running back Jahmyr Gibbs leads the league in carries (177) and is tied for second with nine rushing touchdowns.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt all starts with Jahmyr Gibbs,\u201d Spillane said. \u201cHe\u2019s an elite athlete out of the backfield. He\u2019s the No. 1 player to touch the ball in the NFL, so they get him the ball in a variety of ways.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut, the easiest thing to do is just give him the ball seven yards deep in the backfield and let him do what he does best, which is to run with it where they\u2019re not. So we know we\u2019ll be 11 people at a point of attack at all points with him.\u201d<\/p>\n

Lions wide receiver Amon-Ra St. Brown is fifth in catches (61), and Jameson Williams is averaging 16.7 yards per catch. Quarterback Jared Goff has 15 touchdown passes against two interceptions.<\/p>\n

\u201cGreat skill players, speed, physical,\u201d said Patriots coach Mike Vrabel. \u201cThe defense has played really well the last three weeks, and they stay aggressive on fourth down. They stay aggressive on special teams. So, certainly it\u2019ll be a huge challenge. They don\u2019t turn the ball over offensively at all.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Is Sunday\u2019s game against the Dolphins when Patriots receiver A.J. Brown finally breaks out? \u2013 John Tlumacki\/Globe Staff<\/p>\n

Gilliam, Brown return<\/p>\n

Receiver A.J. Brown returned to practice on Wednesday after missing the Patriots\u2019 past two games with a knee injury. Vrabel confirmed Brown will travel with the team to Germany, but indicated it didn\u2019t necessarily mean Brown would be available to play.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s going to be guys that go to Germany that won\u2019t play,\u201d Vrabel said. \u201cI don\u2019t know who those will be, but there\u2019ll be a lot of guys that\u2019ll go to Germany that won\u2019t be active. I don\u2019t know who those are.\u201d<\/p>\n

Fullback Reggie Gilliam also returned to practice, starting the 21-day clock on his activation from injured reserve.<\/p>\n

The Patriots also added rookie tight-end Tanner Arkin to the practice squad after releasing him earlier this week.<\/p>\n

Numbers game<\/p>\n

Running back Rhamondre Stevenson is expected to miss Sunday\u2019s game. Vrabel said there\u2019s a chance Stevenson could land on injured reserve, but he did not want to speculate.<\/p>\n

NFL teams can bring up to eight players back from injured reserve during the regular-season. Gilliam is the fifth Patriots player to return from injured reserve this season, along with Brown, offensive tackle Marcus Bryant, receiver Mack Hollins, and guard Greg Van Roten.<\/p>\n

Receiver Romeo Doubs, guards Alijah Vera-Tucker and Mike Onwenu, safety Dell Pettus, and linebacker Kahlil Jacobs are among the players still on injured reserve.<\/p>\n

The injuries have been a factor in the team\u2019s performance, but they aren\u2019t an excuse, Hollins said.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf I had wheels, I would be a bicycle,\u201d Hollins said. \u201cJokes aside, it\u2019s just hard to say, \u2018Hey, if we were healthy we could do this\u2019. Well, we\u2019re not. We have the guys we have and that\u2019s who has to come to battle.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Local News After surrendering a season-high 45 points in last week’s debacle against the Packers, the Patriots will…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":1052436,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2050],"tags":[7,1167,249,2326,2094,6,208],"class_list":["post-1052435","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-new-england-patriots","tag-football","tag-new-england","tag-new-england-patriots","tag-newengland","tag-newenglandpatriots","tag-nfl","tag-patriots"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/117601228877572982","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1052435","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1052435"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1052435\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1052436"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1052435"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1052435"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1052435"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}