From Detroit to Germany: Lions and Patriots gear up for showdown in Munich

is a little information you need to know if you are considering this. And if you're not, hey, this is why we're here for you, Fox. Fox 2, this Sunday, of course, home, all things NFL. We've got a big triple header on tap here. So starting with our Detroit Lions taking on the Patriots, the New England Patriots. Who are they? We don't need to know. They're in Munich. And, uh, The kickoff is at 9.30 a.m. our time. You're going to have to wake up a little bit earlier than normal. Then at 1 o'clock, of course, there's a big showdown between the Packers versus the Vikings. And, of course, America's Game of the Week follows. We have so much happening, but the Lions are currently a half game out of the NFC North. Let me tell you, I'm just excited that... We're doing something so extraordinary, going to Germany and talking all things NFL out there. I want to bring in Nate Wingler, one of my favorites who monitors all things sports. Great sports host, podcaster, and so much more. Nate, good to have you join us today. Good to see you again as always Ronnie. Yeah I think one of the cool connections about this whole story especially when it comes to Germany is Amon-Ra St. Brown. His mom Miriam is from Germany and Leverkusen obviously is so there's a connection there. He speaks German so this is kind of like a homecoming for someone like Amon Ross St. Brown. Not every place in terms of these international games has that unique connection but for the Lions there is that added. That added connection for this international game. But yeah, prices are crazy, a lot to get to, but a cool little homecoming for someone like Amon Ross St. Brown. You know, I'm glad you mentioned him because I do know he's half German. I know that I've heard the rumors that he can speak it, but I saw a clip and I said, that's got to be AI. And I've had a few people here verify it wasn't. I want to play this clip for you because it certainly had me shocked. Let's take a listen. The last time I did this, I was... I don't even know what he's saying, but let me tell you, he speaks it so well. He speaks it well, he knows it, and listen, being bilingual is a superpower, right? We all know this, and so for someone who is inundated in the culture, knows the culture well, knows the language, like I said, exciting for him to go back, and maybe he can teach some of his teammates a thing or two about what it's like to be in Germany. And I think it's also interesting, because we always talk about, right, the bleed over between the different professional sports. You know, when I first started here talking on Fox 2, it was for the World Cup, In some cases, this almost kind of feels like watching the Premier League, you know, waking up on a Sunday morning and watching it in the morning, or like you're just watching any NFL game on the West Coast, right? Because this is how it is every single week. But yeah, a lot of cool angles to this. And again, a fun opportunity for him and the rest of this team, no doubt. Well, let's talk about this because this game seems like just a whole bunch of fun, but of course... You know, we don't want to get anybody hurt. I mean, we want our team to come back safely and in one piece, right? And the New England Patriots, I mean, I'm not going to, I'll leave it up to you to tell us how good or bad they may be. Well, when we look at this game, this is a heavy one for a lot of Lions fans because of the timing of it. It is coming after the trade deadline. And so when you ask different Lions fans, there are two different schools of thought. Number one, you got Andre Cisco, right? So you were able to shore up the safety position. You give yourself a little bit of extra depth, right, to help out a defense that has just been really kind of scrambling to figure out what their combination is. But at the same exact time, there's also arguments that you left some meat on the bone. You didn't get a linebacker to back up a bare-bones linebacking core. You didn't get an elite cornerback. You missed out on someone like Joey Porter Jr. And so the timing of this matchup matters a lot. When it comes to the Patriots, I'll tell you this much, Rania, they have an explosive offense of plays over 10-plus yards. They actually have more than the Lions here in 2026. But defensively, they lack a little bit. Gave up 350-plus passing yards and three touchdowns against the Packers last week. So what I would expect, and I hope it isn't the case, because I would love to see this defense continue to perform at a high level, maybe attract me a lot of explosive plays and some fireworks on both sides. So try to cut down on those and be more efficient on first down. That's my expectation. That's what I'm looking forward to in this matchup against the Pats. Have you heard anything as far as Jack Campbell and his recovery? I don't think, at least I haven't heard anything today. From the latest update that we saw, and again, that was from Jack Campbell himself, good things, right? Like we talked about testing sensation in all your extremities. He has motion and movement in his lower half. Apparently, they are working on getting more of that back in his upper half. So the process in nursing him back is it's taking some time. But in terms of, you know, is he paralyzed or is it something that is going to affect him? In the long, long term, it doesn't look as detrimental as maybe what initially thought. So, good news so far, and I'm sure we'll get more updates as we go. And not really, I'm just going to switch over, but I do want to mention the Red Wings. I'm tongue-tied here. Okay, so Dylan Larkin, last time we spoke, there was a lot of controversy. He was... Yeah, breaking up in a sense. Now, where are things today and what can we expect for the team's future and Larkin's future? Well, right now, trade negotiations involving the Wings and Dylan Larkin are at a standstill. Larkin continues to refuse to play for an organization that he's wanted out of. And I think the hard thing is, is when you look at the situation, I think Dylan Larkin handled it. And mind you, this is new in the NHL in terms of players demanding trades and wanting to go elsewhere and being willing to sit out. I mean, it started in the NBA with LeBron. It has since carried over into the other professional sports, including the National Hockey League. And his list, again, despite expanding it, Detroit has just not been able to close a deal on sending him somewhere else. And I think this is more a reflection of the, just the, I don't know, how do you want to describe it? Like, what's a nice way of describing what's going on in that front office? Madness, unmitigated madness that's happening in that front office right now. So negotiations are at a standstill. Dylan Larkin staying put, you know, he gave them the right amount of time. He goes, I'll suit up. I'll go play, but I need you guys to figure something out of the back and they haven't done it. So where that leads us now, I'm not sure. It seems like everything's up in the air when it comes to the wings. So my director here, Tom, just while we're talking, he was letting me know that Dylan Larkin loses about $41,000 per day based on this halt. Is that true? He's losing quite a bit of money, right? And so it's like this rock in a hard place for Dylan Larkin. You can go back and play or if he let's just say he didn't decide to do this in the first place. Do you really want to play in front of a city that boos you every single night? Like, this is the whole thing when it comes to Dylan Larkin. It's like a breakup. Okay, we're past the arguments and all the other stuff. This is done. Now we just have to figure out how to actually separate this. But yeah, he's losing quite a bit of money. But again, for the organization, what's the good in having him just sit there, too? There is none. This is where, again, it is madness. It's tough to put a finger on exactly how we even go about solving this. I got to say, that's a salary for a lot of people. That's a lot of money. People work a whole year to make money. Some of us per year. Yeah, you know, with all this being said, just before you go, Nate, the Detroit Lions being in Munich, the one cool thing that I found, I don't know if you saw this, but there's like a whole TikTok page. Let me bring this up. That showcases the Detroit Lions' Deutsch. I can't even say it. This is all the Germany kind of influence that is being brought up. Have you checked this out? I've seen definitely some of their social media and listen, they're leaning into the German theme of this pretty hard, right? We got the beer themes, we got the pretzel themes, everything else when it comes to what Germany is. So I think, again, immersing themselves in that culture and again, a social media team in the Lions, which I would say if we're going off power rankings here, and I know we're talking about what's going on on the field, I think it's the Buffalo Bills. In the Detroit Lions, you can maybe throw, I don't know, the Broncos in there. I think they have a good social media team, but the Lions are one of the best in the NFL. But yeah, really, really leaning into the German theme, and I love it for Detroit. Do you know anybody that's going? No, I don't think I know anybody that can afford that. But to the people that are going, have a fun time and we'll be watching on Sunday morning. Absolutely. Right here on Fox, of course, we're tracking all things Detroit Lions, 9.30 a.m. on Sunday. Nate, it's always so good to have you join us. And hopefully one day you and I get to go to one of these overseas games and report and bring all this live to everybody. You guys know where to find me. Send me there. I'll do the job. I'm always ready and waiting. You know this about me. So, no, always fun, Rania. We'll see what happens on Sunday. Of course. And how can people find you on social media? At Wangler underscore Nathan on all the other socials. On TikTok, it's at Nate, the broadcaster. But we'll certainly be talking about this. And Jack Campbell, too, as he continues to come back to health. All good news on that front. Of course. We'll check in with you, hopefully, after the game. Nate, we appreciate you.