After a brutal 45-27 loss to the Green Bay Packers at home, the New England Patriots are off to Germany to take on another tough NFC North opponent in Week 10.

The Patriots and Lions will face off Sunday at Allianz Arena in Munich. New England enters with a 5-4 record, while Detroit is 6-2 and riding a four-game win streak.

Pats quarterback Drake Maye hopes to bounce back after throwing three interceptions in the loss to Green Bay. The 2025 NFL MVP runner-up is tied for the NFL lead with 11 INTs.

Lions QB Jared Goff has thrown only two interceptions all season, but both INTs came in his last two games. He led Detroit to a 19-9 win over Miami last week despite throwing for only 170 yards with zero touchdowns.

Will Maye and the Patriots rebound from last Sunday's woeful performance, or will they remain winless against NFC opponents this season? Here's our Week 10 preview and prediction:

Recent head-to-head matchups

The Patriots are 8-5 all-time against the Lions. They've won five of their last six meetings with Detroit, though they had Tom Brady at quarterback for all but one of those games.

On Sunday, Maye will face the Lions for the first time in his young NFL career.

• Week 5, 2022 at New England: 29-0 Patriots
• Week 3, 2018 at Detroit: 26-10 Lions
• Week 12, 2014 at New England: 34-9 Patriots

Key stats

Turnover differential

Neither the Patriots nor the Lions excel at forcing turnovers. Both rank near the bottom of the league with only eight takeaways apiece.

Still, Detroit has a positive turnover differential (+3) because of its ability to limit giveaways. Quarterback Jared Goff has thrown only two interceptions this season, and the Lions have turned it over only five times total.

That's where Detroit has a significant advantage over New England. The Pats are tied with the winless Los Angeles Chargers for the most giveaways (19) this season. Maye is tied with Chargers QB Justin Herbert for the league lead in interceptions (11).

Secondary struggles

The Patriots have one of the NFL's best cornerbacks in Christian Gonzalez. In the offseason, they added last year's INT leader in veteran safety Kevin Byard. Veteran CB Carlton Davis, speedy CB Marcus Jones, and promising young safety Craig Woodson added to what was expected to be one of the NFL's best secondaries in 2026.

The group hasn't lived up to those lofty expectations through the first nine weeks. New England is in the middle of the pack (14th) with 328.6 passing yards allowed per game. Of course, that number was inflated after Gonzalez and Co.'s woeful performance last week vs. the Packers, during which they allowed wideouts Christian Watson and Matthew Golden to combine for 335 yards and two touchdowns.

It won't get any easier for the Pats secondary this Sunday against the Lions' top two wideouts, Amon-Ra St. Brown and Jameson Williams.

The good news for New England? The Lions have allowed the seventh-most passing yards per game (355). However, their secondary has greatly improved as of late, allowing only 226 passing yards per game while notching at least one interception in each of their last four games.

Mike Vrabel reacts to an uncharacteristically poor performances from Christian Gonzalez in the team's blowout loss to the Green Bay Packers.

Patriots' key to victory

Win the turnover battle

How could this not be the key to a Patriots victory after reading those turnover differential stats?

Maye's three interceptions in last week's loss to Green Bay were a killer, but they weren't totally unexpected as the Packers rank near the top of the league in takeaways. A repeat performance against a Lions team that hardly turns the ball over would be disastrous.

Lions' key to victory

Keep the pressure on Drake Maye

Detroit's defense ranks seventh in the NFL in pressure rate (25.7 percent) and second in sacks (27). New England's offensive line will be tasked with containing the fearsome trio of Aidan Hutchinson (5 sacks, 6 tackles for loss), Alim McNeill (5.5 sacks, 6.5 TFL), and DJ Wonnum (5 sacks, 5 TFL).

The Lions' pass rushers should be licking their chops with a chance to disrupt the turnover-prone Maye. The Patriots might have to abandon the run without their top two running backs, Rhamondre Stevenson (knee) and TreVeyon Henderson (illness), so it could be a long day for the Pats' offense if Maye is consistently under pressure.

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Prediction

If the Patriots' offense were at full strength, we may have given them the slight edge in this matchup. But as of Thursday, it looks like they could be without A.J. Brown (ankle and knee), Romeo Doubs (injured reserve, shoulder), Rhamondre Stevenson (knee), and TreVeyon Henderson (illness). That'll be difficult to overcome, even against this beatable Detroit defense.

Turnovers will be the difference in this one. New England simply doesn't do a good enough job of protecting the football, and Detroit is among the league's best in that department.

The Lions are currently 2.5-point favorites for the Week 10 showdown in Germany, and we see them winning fairly convincingly.

Score: 30-20 Lions