Beating up on the lowly Jets is one thing and now the Detroit Lions get the best of the AFC East when they take on the defending champion New England Patriots in Week 3 of the preseason slate on Friday. The Pats are favored to win another Super Bowl title and we will get the chance to see all of their offensive weapons on display in this matchup. So will the Lions, who are looking to recover after losing two defenders to season ending injuries in their first preseason game.
This preseason Week 3 matchup will go down Friday, August 25, 2017, at 7 p.m. ET at Ford Field.
Odds Analysis
Home field advantage plays a large role in preseason spreads, but with starters expected to play into the second half we could see this line go in favor of the visitors. The numbers have yet to hit the board so be sure to check BookMaker.eu for the latest. The Lions weren’t impressive in last week’s win over the Jets, squeaking out a 10-point win in a low scoring affair. Detroit has played below the closing total in four straight preseason games and 10 of the last 12.
Quarterback Rotation
New England’s starters traditionally play into the third quarter of the third preseason game and that’s likely to be the case on Friday. After sitting out the opener, Tom Brady made his preseason debut last week and played the first two series, completing 6 of 9 passes for 67 yards and a touchdown to cap the second drive.
Bill Belichick likes to give his regulars significant time in the third preseason game and has played them into the third quarter of past exhibitions to get the feel of starting the second half. Brady will likely see more reps than what he saw in the loss to Houston with Jimmy Garoppolo picking up the scraps. This figures to be an important outing for Garoppolo, who struggled against the Texans losing a fumble on a sack and throwing an interception.
Jake Rudock has looked good this preseason and Jim Caldwell is feeling more comfortable with his backup quarterback. However, Rudock has yet to throw a pass in a meaningful game and while the coaching staff would like to keep it that way, or at least have that first pass be on their terms, getting him as many reps will only help.
Rudock will take some snaps on Friday after another nice outing against the Jets where he completed 8 of 13 passes for 84 yards with a pick. Expect Matthew Stafford to play the first half with Rudock taking over to start the third quarter. We could see Brad Kaaya get a series or two late, but more than likely he plays the final exhibition game.
Coaching History
Belichick and the Pats use the exhibition games to get their ducks in a row for once the games actually count. But, New England has only had one losing preseason in the past eight years and they will need to win their next two to avoid adding to that. With Week 3 considered the closest to a regular season contest, the Pats are just 8-8 over the last 16 seasons in such games.
Jim Caldwell didn’t have much preseason success while coaching the Colts, but that has changed during his tenure in Detroit. The Lions improved to 2-0 this preseason with a win over the Jets last week and have won three straight overall to move Caldwell’s record while with the Lions to 10-4 SU and ATS.
Free ATS Pick
The Patriots have some issues on defense, particularly at end after top draft pick Derek Rivers was lost for the season with a knee injury sustained during practice. And the defense hasn’t looked all that good so far in the preseason allowing 58 combined points to the Jaguars and Texans. That’s definitely something Belichick and defensive coordinator Matt Patricia are going to address.
The Pats aren’t going to risk further losses on that side of the football so we will expect to see plenty of reserves, at least up front. That will allow the Lions to take advantage of a weakened pass rush to try and push the passing game a little more with Stafford expected to play the first half.
The Lions will need to work on getting draft pick Kenny Golladay involved with the first team after T.J. Jones sustained a hamstring injury last week, and the offense looked stagnant in a win over the Jets. We should see more points now that the starters for both sides will play a bit longer and the defenses are thin after both suffered losses on that side of the football.
NFL Odds: Patriots 27, Lions 24
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