The Detroit Lions should fire Jim Bob Cooter now, not wait for the bye

The Detroit Lions offensive performance was pathetic. A professional sports team simply can not put up a performance like the Lions did without consequences. It’s time to say goodbye to Jim Bob Cooter before it’s too late.

What we saw Monday night from the Detroit Lions offense was unforgivable. People have been making excuses for Jim Bob Cooter for years. It is time to stop making excuses and start making changes. Waiting only invites continued failure.

The Lions have a former NFL offensive coordinator on staff who managed to put together a functional offense with Tom Savage at quarterback. Quarterbacks coach George Godsey couldn’t do a worse job. I actually doubt that a pretty good Madden player could do a worse job.

The problems with the Lions offense have been blamed on running backs. They have also been blamed on injuries. They have been blamed on a vanilla head coach, Jim Caldwell, staring over Cooter’s shoulders. None of those were factors when the ball was kicked off Monday night at Ford Field. The ball wasn’t the only thing getting kicked.

The Jets scored 14 points on defense and special teams returns. If you give the Lions offense credit for field goals, they scored 10. The Lions “high powered” offense did nothing all night. Sure, The Lions missed two other field goals, but is that really the line in the sand we want to draw?

Matt Patricia looked embarrassed in his postgame press conference. He should. The defense wasn’t any better than the offense, the entire performance was pathetic. The defensive side of the ball has the excuse of having a lot of new players and a new system. What exactly is the excuse for the offense?

The Lions converted a mere 23% of their third-down opportunities and failed to convert either of their fourth down attempts. It is easy to write off this performance as being due to Stafford’s injuries. Don’t let that narrative grab you.

In the first half, the Lions converted only 17% of their third down attempts. They generated only 120 yards of total offense. The team averaged a pathetic 4.1 yards per play on six drives. The team averaged 2 yards per carry in the first half.

The Lions first-half possessions ended in a field goal, a missed field goal, two punts and two interceptions. The defense actually kept the Lions in the game far longer than they should have before they too collapsed.

The worst offense though is that in the first game of the season the Lions offense was so similar to last year the Jets were able to guess the Lions plays by formation and Matthew Stafford‘s hand gestures. That’s not the hallmark of a young offensive genius at work. Goodbye Jim Bob. Don’t let the door hit you too hard on the way out.