Lions: Thanksgiving Day Results Shouldn’t Determine Patricia’s Fate

The Detroit Lions continue to limp their way through the 2019 regular season.  It’s a team that has lost six of their last seven games after suffering another ugly loss in Washington Sunday.

When the Detroit Lions opened the regular season with a tie in Arizona, blowing an 18-point fourth-quarter lead, it immediately sparked the “same old Lions” talk.  I would have none of that, but perhaps those outspoken fans were right? Well, it’s complicated.

I was very optimistic after Detroit found a way to bounce back with back to back victories over the Chargers and Eagles following that week one let down.  Then Detroit hosted Patrick Mahomes and the high powered Chiefs offense, not allowing the reigning MVP to throw a single touchdown pass.

Despite losing to K.C and having an opportunity to win the football game late, that’s still just a 34-30 loss to a Super Bowl contender.  That’s a loss anyone can absorb.  Blowing an 18-point lead to a rebuilding Cardinals team maybe not…but a close loss to Mahomes and company is nothing to throw a temper tantrum over.

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After that, the Lions headed into their bye week before the officiating debacle in Green Bay happened.  I still say, Detroit won that game.  I understand it doesn’t appear that way when you look at their overall record today, but don’t fool yourself the Lions won that game.  It was the worst officiating job I ever saw in my life.  It wasn’t just you or I either, athletes, beat writers from all over the country indicated a similar opinion.

Now, I’m not going to bore you with going over all the other games, but to that point in the season, the Lions were not the “same old Lions.”  To that point, they gave us the fans’ hope.  The defense had been a leaking soffit all season but has since wholly blown, causing a plethora of damaging flooding.

Remember when the Green Bay Packers cut defensive tackle and former pro bowler Mike Daniels?  He mentioned he signed in Detroit because head coach Matt Patricia is a defensive ‘genius.’  The problem is we’ve yet to see it.  The defense has even regressed since last season.

Detroit ranks 29th out of 32 in the league when it comes to tackling.  It’s a similar ranking when you look at where their pass-rush, which sits 27th in football.  Two vital defensive stats, in both areas Detroit struggles. Detroit sits at 28th against the run and 24th vs. the pass, grading their total defense out at 28th overall in the NFL.  If that’s a ‘genius’ style defense, none of us know anything about football. For the record, in 2018, the defense finished ranked 23rd overall.

Coaching hasn’t lived up to our expectations.  Perhaps Matt Patricia should cut ties with his DC Paul Pasqualoni. No defense should add Mike Daniels, Trey Flowers, and Justin Coleman and become worse.

Firing Paul will be a move that will be acceptable if Detroit loses Thursday at home on Thanksgiving to their division rival Chicago Bears.  Something I expect to happen.  I mean, they did just lose to a bad Washington team, and Paul likely should have been gone weeks ago.  That simple move should buy Patricia and Quinn time with owner Martha Ford.

The truth is, the team was doomed the second Matthew Stafford started to miss games due to a broken back.  Jeff Driskel isn’t going to elevate players around him as Stafford does, he’s simply a placemat for a game or two.  Anything more than that, it’s not his fault, that’s not fair to him.  He’s not an NFL starting quarterback.

Although Jeff didn’t play well Sunday in Washington, he’s played better than I anticipated he would since coming out of the bullpen while Stafford remains on the mend.  He popped up on the injury report yesterday, and the Lions reached back out to Josh Johnson, who was in Detroit to start the season, but the XFL has blocked the Lions from signing him.

The Lions went into Washington without their franchise quarterback, top running back in Kerryon Johnson, their best offensive lineman Frank Ragnow, best defensive lineman Trey Flowers, top safety Tracy Walker and we still expected them to win?  Come on.  We can complain about coaching all we want, but if the same players are missing Thursday, the Lions likely won’t win the football game regardless of who their coach is, and we shouldn’t expect them too.

A loss Thursday should signal change, but not an entire regime change. The Lions can’t fire and hire a new coaching staff every 18 months and expect positive results.

I’m not convinced Patricia is ‘the guy,’ but I’m against firing him right now.  If we are in this same position next Thanksgiving, sure, but not just a year and a half into HIS rebuild of the Lions. Despite being just 9-17-1 through his first 27 games in Detroit, he deserves a bit more time.

The same goes for GM Bob Quinn.  Although he’s been in Detroit longer than Patricia, Matt was his first hire.  The tandem deserves at least three years before we overreact.