Patriots fall apart after Drake Maye injury, show no fight in blowout loss to the Lions

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But quarterback is a different story. Drake Maye, who has started 42 straight games, left Sunday’s game in the first quarter after injuring his ankle on a third-down sack. Maye’s…

• The Patriots have been able to get by this season despite being hit hard by injuries. They compiled a 5-4 record entering Sunday despite playing large chunks of the season without receivers A.J. Brown and Romeo Doubs, several offensive linemen, and several cornerbacks.

But quarterback is a different story. Drake Maye, who has started 42 straight games, left Sunday’s game after the first series after injuring his ankle on a third-down sack. Maye’s absence rendered the Patriots completely non-functional on offense.

The Patriots possessed the ball five more times in the first half and had four punts, an interception, and a total of minus-1 yards behind backup Tommy DeVito, who looked overmatched in his first real action of the season. The Patriots managed just 151 total yards, and only 81 after Maye went down.

In turn, the Patriots’ defense fell apart, allowing the Lions’ high-powered offense to trample for 494 yards. Losing Maye seemed to sap all of the spirit from the Patriots’ sideline.

It was yet another embarrassing performance on the international stage for the Patriots, who lost a 10-6 clunker three years ago in Frankfurt, and lost 32-16 two years ago in London. Owner Robert Kraft probably isn’t too upset he missed this game following back surgery.

The Patriots had hoped to rebound from last week’s blowout loss to the Packers. Instead, they dropped to 5-5, wheezing into their bye week with an injured quarterback and major questions on both sides of the ball. They’re still in the thick of the wild-card race, but with losses in three of their last four games, the Patriots are falling apart quickly, and don’t have much of a chance without Maye in the huddle.

• Once again, it didn’t seem that coach Mike Vrabel had his team ready to go. The Patriots, who fell behind early in each of the last three games, did jump out to a 3-0 lead. But two penalties inside the red zone, most notably a false start against left tackle Will Campbell, ruined the Patriots’ first drive.

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