What would a Detroit Lions victory over the Patriots mean?

Realistically the Patriots haven’t been the Patriots so far this season. That doesn’t mean an angry Tom Brady is anything for anyone to mess with, but these Patriots have struggled defensively and their offense hasn’t set the world on fire either.

If the Lions actually play well, then they will have every opportunity to win this game. This isn’t the mismatch it would be considered in years past, but a win also wouldn’t guarantee all the Lions problems have been fixed.

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The ongoing issue of the players vs. Patricia will remain until they start winning on a consistent basis and the players acknowledge that the ‘Patricia Way’ works. Until then they will continue to lament the comparative ease of Jim Caldwell’s practice sessions.

As for a win over the Patriots meaning they turned the corner, that would be something that could only be answered down the road. Calling it a victory that will turn things around would be premature because the Lions have done that before. A prime example would be the occasions when they beat the Dallas Cowboys and San Francisco 49ers during their peak years in the 1990’s.

Those were big wins at the time, but where was the turnaround?

Two years ago Matthew Stafford went into the record books for engineering the most come from behind victories in a season with eight. Then with three games remaining against playoff opponents and the Lions having a chance to clinch the division, they lost all three games including the winner take all finale against the Green Bay Packers.

Somehow even with all those last-second wins, they still didn’t turn the corner.

Now in fairness, yes, Stafford had injured the index finger on his throwing hand, but blaming that season-ending crash and burn all on his finger is misguided and overlooking the Lions obvious shortcomings.

In the grand scheme of things, one win doesn’t prove anything unless it is followed by a successful run.

Could the Lions win and make a push for the playoffs? Yes, they could, but would anyone be surprised if they didn’t at this point?

The Lions definitely need more talent in their front seven on defense, but they still have enough talent on the overall roster to be competitive if they buy-in to Matt Patricia’s system and carry out their individual assignments correctly. Regardless of position.

While it is way too early to say for sure that beating the Patriots will turn things around, the one thing we can say for certain is that it couldn’t hurt.