Detroit Lions most important asset: Matthew Stafford or Matt Patricia?

Meanwhile, Matt Patricia is the commander-in-chief. He has to set the direction of this team. It is his responsibility to have the team prepared to play each week and create a game plan that will be successful.

He is in charge of every facet of the Lions on-field performance. It is his defensive prowess that is being counted on to improve the Lions porous defense. It is his in-game management from the sidelines that can often be the difference between winning and losing, just like any other head coach.

What Stafford does on the field will directly affect how well the team does, but so does what Patricia does all week preparing for game day and on the sidelines during the game.

The interesting thing as we break this down is this; Patricia has absolutely no track record as a head coach. We really don’t know for sure how this whole thing will work out. It’s a crapshoot. Meanwhile, Stafford has a woeful history against good teams and in the playoffs. Despite his obvious improvement over the last few years, he still has to beat the good teams and win in the playoffs.

Both of these men need each other for the success of the Detroit Lions and for their personal success. They both need each other to be good at what they do.

So who is more important? The answer I could give is that the sum total is more important than the individual parts. That’s an answer Matt Patricia would like, but I’m not here to give answers that people want to hear. I’m here to tell it like I believe it is.

In the end, at least for the 2018 season, Matthew Stafford is more important to the Detroit Lions success than Matt Patricia. The reason? Stafford will give the offense leadership and stability while Patricia is getting his feet wet as a head coach for the first time. Stafford will find ways to make the offense work and even carry it when he has too.

This will ease the pressure that Patricia will be under to turn around the defense and manage the entire squad by not having the headaches of offensive instability at the most important position on the field; quarterback.

Make no mistake about it, both Stafford and Patricia are the two most important pieces to the Lions puzzle as we prepare for the season, with all due respect to Bob Quinn who has built this team, and only through their joint efforts and success’s will the Lions flourish.

But Matthew Stafford is more important for now. At least by the nose of the football.