FanPulse: Both Patriots and Lions fans think New England will beat the spread

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The Matt Patricia era of the Detroit Lions has gotten off to a slow start with losses to both the New York Jets and San Francisco 49ers. Patricia, the former New England Patriots defensive coordinator, was supposed to inject the Detroit defense with some new life, but they’ve allowed an average of 39 points per game.

In Patricia’s defense, 7 points came on a pick six. It’s a weak defense.

But now Lions fans aren’t believing in their team anymore and it’s showing up in the data.

When we ask fans to predict the final score in our FanPulse survey, they typically provide homer results with their teams exceeding the Las Vegas projection. This isn’t the case with Detroit.

The Patriots are 7-point favorites over the Lions and Pats Pulpit readers believe New England will win by 10 points. This is similar to the 4.5-point homer edge both Patriots and Jaguars fans had in week 2 and 1-point homer edge the Patriots fans had and 8-point homer edge (!!) that Texans fans had in week 1.

Instead of leaning towards their team, Lions fans project the Patriots to win by 9 points. Lions fans are so down on their team they expect New England to cover the spread. That’s not good.

I mean, I hope they’re right and that the Patriots crush the Lions, but that’s just disheartening to see. All I have to say is that the Patriots started the Bill Belichick era 0-4 and eventually 2-8, before turning it around in season two and going on a pretty solid run of success.

Give Patricia time.