Detroit Lions: The Epic Battle Against Themselves
By Bob Heyrman
It was an inexcusable fourth quarter melt-down Sunday in Arizona for the Detroit Lions. Even now, three days later, I still have a sick feeling in my stomach, understanding the teams’ next three opponents.
The Detroit Lions blew an 18 fourth-quarter point lead to rookie quarterback Kyler Murray and the bad–actually terrible Arizona Cardinals. The Cards came from behind and also converted a two-point conversion to force overtime. The game ended in a tie but for the Lions and their fans, it’s a loss. Let’s call a spade a spade here.
Week one for the Detroit Lions was as much of a ‘must-win’ situation as there can be in week one. It sounds asinine to mention the term must-win and week one in the same sentence but with the Lions set to play the L.A. Chargers, Eagles & Chiefs over the next three weeks there is a very good chance the organization will now go winless in their first four games.
That’s not just starting the season in a hole, that’s starting the season in quicksand. After that grueling part of the schedule is complete the Lions head to Lambeau to take on the Packers who they’ve had tremendous success against in the last couple of seasons’ but if the dismal Cardinals can force a tie what will Aaron Rodgers do once he and that offense work out all of their kinks?
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After that, the Lions host the Vikings who didn’t show much on offense week one but certainly smothered the robust, high flying offense in Atlanta. If the Lions indeed end up in quicksand, the more they try to escape, the deeper they sink. Let’s hope that doesn’t become the case.
I’m not saying the Detroit Lions are going to start the season 0-10-1, but there is a chance this gets ugly. They could realistically start the season 0-5-1. Would that put head coach Matt Patricia on the hot seat? Some people feel that Patricia is already on the hot seat. I think unless this really goes South, Matt is safe until the end of the season. Martha Ford is very loyal, plus this is only his second season as an NFL head coach.
He’s Bob Quinn’s ‘guy’ so that could buy him one more season. It’s hard for a general manager to get in sync with a head coach he inherited from a previous regime. It’s a win-now league, but the Lions on paper seem to be improving their roster, but there is plenty of more work to do especially on the offensive line.
I thought the Lions would go 8-8 on the season, maybe 9-7 if everything went right. A tie in week one isn’t right. So, they need to steal two of their next three games somehow. Philip Rivers and the Chargers are historically slow starters to the season. They’ve often started 0-4 before getting things going and making a playoff push year after year. Maybe the Lions can benefit from that and steal a win Sunday.