Detroit Lions: Why this season is more trick than treat

Last week at this time we were all basking in the glow of the Lions’ acquisition of Damon ‘Snacks’ Harrison. The Lions were adding a player to help make a playoff run, yet as we all found out against the Seahawks, one player wasn’t going to save their defense.

He will be an impact player, but he still needs help.

This leads us to exactly where this team is headed. At least in Bob Quinn’s mind. Despite the New England roots for Quinn, it was how Seattle played on Sunday that Quinn and Matt Patricia aspire for the Lions to play; control the line of scrimmage and therefore the game.

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While we would all love to see Golden Tate continue to make plays for the Honolulu Blue and Silver, their blueprint is to do what they did in Miami two weeks ago; run the ball all over the opponent’s defense and allow that to open up the passing game more for Matthew Stafford.

The Lions still have two top-tier receivers in Marvin Jones and Kenny Golladay, not to mention T.J. Jones who has been quietly reliable and will certainly get more snaps now.

And they will definitely take a good look at Powell as well.

With the offense evolving, as valuable as Tate was, he was more expendable than worth overpaying for in free agency. While I truly liked Tate and wanted to keep him, it just wasn’t going to happen in the new direction the Lions are creating for themselves.

Another major factor is the defense. I’ve already pointed out what any Lions fan with two cents worth of gray matter already knows; they desperately need more help on defense.

The defensive front seven should have ‘help wanted’ signs tattooed on their helmets. Bob Quinn spent his first few years on the job supplying Jim Caldwell with sleeker more maneuverable players that had speed. Matt Patricia’s defense asks for bigger, stronger players both in the trenches and at linebacker.

It was a no-brainer that they were going to have to clean house and rebuild the defensive front seven.

Yet a play-maker at cornerback across from Darius Slay wouldn’t be a bad acquisition either.

One way or another, I don’t believe that the debacle against Seattle caused the Tate trade or ‘giving up on the season’ as some have called it. Bob Quinn and Matt Patricia have to know that a serious run at a championship was going to be very difficult under the current circumstances of their roster.

The Tate trade was simply opportunistic business. The vision of this franchise, as seen through the eyes of Quinn and Patricia, hasn’t changed one iota. It just won’t get there as fast as either they or we want it to.

Despite the ‘sky is falling’ attitude many fans are having right now, the Lions are doing business like contenders; being proactive with personnel moves and never losing sight of their goal. Regardless of the situation.

But no matter what the front office does, they eventually have to start winning or none of this will mean anything at all.