Detroit Lions: After starting 0-2 there is plenty of blame to go around

The Detroit Lions have started the season poorly, but instead of looking for one scapegoat, fans should realize there is plenty of blame to go around.

The Detroit Lions started out the season with an absolute meltdown at home against the New York Jets, then followed it up with a comeback effort in San Francisco that came up short. Needless to say, this has not been the start to the season Lions’ fans everywhere were envisioning.

They have had problems with all three phases of the game and somewhere along the lines the coaching staff, including new head man Matt Patricia, deserves to join in the blame as well. To quote the old adage, “We win as a team and lose as a team”.

So far the Lions have done just that. Each week from the preseason until last Sunday against the 49ers, Matt Patricia has addressed the press with mostly the same message; the coaches need to coach better and the players need to play better. Give him credit, he’s absolutely right about that.

However, many pundits have started to pin the blame squarely on two sources; Matt Patricia and Matthew Stafford. Now there is absolutely no denying that both have come up short so far this year. Patricia’s Lions didn’t seem to be ready to play against the Jets at all and Stafford was completing passes to the Jets defenders like they were his primary targets.

In Santa Clara, which is where Levi’s Stadium, the home of the 49ers is located, Patricia’s troops did play better than they had in the opener, but were still inconsistent and again gave up a third-quarter explosion that dug them into a deep hole.

Meanwhile, Stafford put together a reasonably good game, but most of his production came in the fourth quarter after he had already missed at least four long ball attempts that would have been big gains if not touchdowns. So, yes, both Patricia and Stafford deserve some blame. However, there is plenty of blame to go around this whole team.