Patriots' Christian Gonzalez sets unwanted Next Gen Stats first in loss to Packers

Christian Gonzalez signed the richest cornerback contract in NFL history before this season. On Sunday he had the worst coverage game the league's tracking data has ever recorded, and the New England Patriots now have six days to fix it before facing another offense built around two big-play receivers.

The Packers beat New England 45-27 at Gillette Stadium. ProFootball Talk on NBC Sports reports that, according to Next Gen Stats, Gonzalez gave up seven catches for 105 yards to Matthew Golden and three catches for 82 yards to Christian Watson with him in coverage. No defender since at least 2018, as far back as Next Gen Stats goes, had allowed more than 80 coverage yards to two different receivers in one game. Gonzalez signed a four-year, $135 million deal before the season.

Golden and Watson finished with 335 yards and two touchdowns between them, The Boston Globe reported. According to PFT, Green Bay's 45 points were the most a visiting team has ever scored at Gillette. Head coach Mike Vrabel did not shield his top cornerback afterward, though he spread the blame across the staff and the roster as well. "When your best players don't play good, you don't have much of a chance in this league," Vrabel said, in a team transcript cited by PFT.

The result drops New England to 5-4. Gonzalez was not the only problem, but the game exposed how much the Patriots' defensive plan depends on him handling an opponent's top receiver one-on-one. When that failed, nothing behind it held.

What it means against Detroit

Next up is the Detroit Lions on Sunday, November 15, in Munich, on Fox. The matchup is a bad one for a secondary coming off this kind of day. Like Green Bay, Detroit runs its passing game through two receivers who can score from anywhere, Amon-Ra St. Brown and Jameson Williams. PFT noted that the Lions' staff will have plenty to study from Sunday's tape.

New England's season has swung week to week. The Patriots have alternated wins and losses over their last four games, beating Miami 24-19 after losing 30-24 in Chicago. Their defense has also been uneven. It held Pittsburgh to 3 points and Seattle to 13, but it has now allowed 35 at Jacksonville and 45 to Green Bay.

The market agrees Detroit has the edge, though not by much. The Lions are favored by 2.5 points on Novig, which has them at -138 on the moneyline. The Patriots are +133 on Novig, and BetRivers has the best New England price at +138. On the spread, Novig lists the Patriots +2.5 at +104, while Pinnacle offers +3 at -115. Totals range from 51.5 on Novig to 50.5 at FanDuel. That's a high number for a team that just allowed 45, but it also reflects that New England has scored at least 24 points in five of its last six games. Hold across the 12 venues tracked runs from about 3 to 6 percent on each market. Full prices are on our Patriots-Lions board.

For more on the season, see our Patriots team page.