Has the Detroit Lions’ Matt Patricia been ‘Lionized’ already?

This past Thursday after an improved, but certainly not a Super Bowl contending Cleveland Browns team invaded Ford Field to kick the Lions in the teeth and make them look like trash, especially on defense, Matt Patricia held his obligatory postgame press conference.

Yes, his message was the same one he had delivered three times before, but there was something different about this one. Something in the way his face looked a little shell-shocked.

More from SideLion Report

• Top 5 revenge games on the Detroit Lions 2023 schedule
• Lions center Frank Ragnow optimistic about continuing to play through toe injury
• Detroit Lions 2023 preseason schedule: Dates, times and opponents
• A new contract extension projection for Lions quarterback Jared Goff
• 4 wide receivers the Detroit Lions could still look to acquire this offseason

The question is simple; has Patricia been ‘Lionized’ like so many head coaches in this franchise’s history over the last 60 years or has it taken him this long to finally realize the enormity of the situation?

We’ve seen that glazed look on the faces of so many Lions coaches, that it’s almost come to be expected. Bobby Ross telling the press that he didn’t coach his players to play like they did, Jim Schwartz going off the deep end at the end of his tenure or even Jim Caldwell lecturing the media about how they were purveyors of gloom and doom.

If it wasn’t so sad and pathetic it would be funny.

In New England, Patricia had to work hard at his craft to get results from his players and he did. I don’t believe for one minute he hasn’t worked even harder, if possible, here in Detroit, but the results have not been there. At least not yet.

Anytime a team changes their system, it takes a period of time to adjust. In the case of these Lions, it is certainly taking time. Where the alarm comes in is that there appears to be no progress being made. That is the concern of the media, fans and one would also have to presume Matt Patricia as well.

This franchise has gambled on Matt Patricia being the one to ‘save the day’, by simply stepping foot into Allen Park. While they have revamped the linebacker corps, there is still work to be done there and the needs on the defensive line are self-evident.

Combined with what could almost be called a refusal by the Lions defenders to play smart, disciplined football, it has to be quite alarming for Patricia to have to honestly look at what he is facing; an uphill battle just to make this defense average.

So has Matt Patricia been ‘Lionized’? I would suspect he hasn’t gotten there yet, but I’m sure he has come to a realization of what he’s gotten into. It isn’t a simple fix and as the 60 plus years since this team’s last title continue to pile up, if he is indeed the ‘chosen one’ who will finally lead this team out of their championship drought, it isn’t gonna come easy.

It will actually take discipline and plenty of improvement.