Week 1 of the NFL preseason typically means nothing in the big scheme of things, but while keeping that in mind, Thursday couldn’t have gone much better for the New England Patriots.
After a few days of joint practices together, the Pats knocked around the Detroit Lions 31-3 at Ford Field in the preseason opener. There were more than a few standouts for New England, which had four touchdowns in the victory.
The first score of the night came in the waning minutes of the first quarter. With the ball on the Detroit 14-yard line, Brian Hoyer out of the shotgun found Maurice Harris, a training camp standout this far, in the end zone. Harris, who was in man coverage, made a nice one-handed grab.
Then, it became the Jakobi Meyers show.
With under nine minutes to go in the second quarter, Hoyer out of the shotgun from the 3-yard line lobbed a ball into the end zone for Meyers, who did a nice job to go up and get it for the Pats’ second touchdown.
Meyers grabbed his second touchdown of the night with about 4:30 left in the first half, this time from Jarrett Stidham. With the ball on the 5-yard line, Stidham hit Meyers, who was playing in the slot, on a quick crossing route just after he crossed the goal line.
(If the video doesn’t play, you can watch it here at the 2:52 mark)
Finally, with just over three minutes to go and the ball inches from the goal line, Stidham (who had a good night overall) handed the ball off to Nick Brossette, who put his head down and forced his way into the end zone for New England’s final TD.
(If the video doesn’t play, you can watch it here at the 4:02 mark)
All-in-all, it was a good night for the Patriots, who now will turn their attention to next week’s joint practices and Saturday’s game against the Tennessee Titans.
