{"id":43408,"date":"2022-10-12T13:54:47","date_gmt":"2022-10-12T17:54:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.patsfans.com\/patriots\/blog\/?p=43408"},"modified":"2022-10-12T13:54:47","modified_gmt":"2022-10-12T17:54:47","slug":"best-of-social-media-week-5-lions-vs-patriots","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patsfans.com\/patriots\/blog\/2022\/10\/12\/best-of-social-media-week-5-lions-vs-patriots\/","title":{"rendered":"Best Of Social Media Week 5: Lions vs Patriots"},"content":{"rendered":"

The New England Patriots<\/strong><\/a> returned home on Sunday looking to snap a two-game losing streak. Rookie quarterback Bailey Zappe was back under center as Mac Jones continues to recover from an ankle injury.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Heading into the contest, it was Bill Belichick’s 400th game as the head coach of the Patriots, the fourth in NFL history to reach this number with one franchise. The game also marked the long-awaited return of the classic home red uniforms the Patriots originally wore from 1960-1992 featuring “Pat Patriot” on the helmets.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Zappe put together another solid fill-in performance leading the offense, completing 17\/21 passes (80.1%) for 188 yards and his first career NFL touchdown pass.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

“He was confident out there,” Belichick\u00a0<\/span>said<\/span><\/a>\u00a0of Zappe. “He does a good job of seeing the game, can come off and articulate what he saw. And he’s usually right.”<\/span><\/p>\n

As for the rest of the offense, running back Rhamondre Stevenson was a beast, logging a career-high 161 yards on the ground on 25 carries, the most by any Patriot in a single game since Jonas Gray ran for 201 yards against the Indianapolis Colts in 2014. Jakobi Meyers led all receivers with seven receptions for 111 yards and a touchdown.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The most important takeaway on offense from Sunday was how invaluable Nick Folk continues to be on special teams. During Sunday’s game, Folk tied a career-high with five field goals and extended his NFL record to 63 successful kicks in a row under 50 yards.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Lastly, the Patriots’ defense put together their most impressive showing of the 2022 season by recording the first Gillette Stadium shutout victory since 2016 against a Lions offense that ranked first in the NFL with 35.0 points and 435 yards per game.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Leading the way was linebacker Matthew Judon, who became the first Patriot to record at least one sack in the first five games of a season. Judon’s pressure led to a scoop and score fumble touchdown by Kyle Dugger in the second quarter. On Wednesday, Judon was\u00a0<\/span>named<\/span><\/a>\u00a0the AFC’s Defensive Player of The Week.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cHonestly, we just executed,\u201d Judon said<\/a> when asked about the success of the defense. \u201cI think going through those two games, if you look, it was just one person here, one person there. Today we just executed and every man was one of 11 and did his job.\u201d<\/p>\n

You can check out all the best social media moments from the Patriots\u2019 29-0 win below.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/p\/CjfvzFOv-uC\/?hl=en<\/p>\n

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Gorgeous. #ForeverNE<\/a> pic.twitter.com\/CgXp5eRFly<\/a><\/p>\n

— Bob Socci (@BobSocci) October 9, 2022<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n