Detroit Lions fans think ‘the sky is falling’, but is it really?

During the course of Sunday’s game, the Viking pass-rush had Stafford rattled. And to be honest, that’s not hard to imagine since all he could see was the purple of Viking jerseys collapsing on him like some sort of perverse avalanche all afternoon.

That being said, as a 10-year veteran and the face of this franchise, he needs to recognize where the pressure is coming from and get rid of the ball.

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The Vikings secondary is pretty good when healthy and they didn’t do too bad of a job on Sunday, but that doesn’t mean Stafford couldn’t check down to his ‘hot’ or outlet receiver or give 6′ 2″ Marvin Jones and 6’4″ Kenny Golladay some 50/50 balls that they definitely have a chance to come down with.

The point is this, maybe that doesn’t work either, but some of the Vikings franchise record 10 sacks came because Stafford held the ball instead of trying to make a play. We get that you don’t want to turn the ball over in a defensive battle, which the Lions defense did a reasonably good job of holding up their end, but when you consider the pitch back to Kerryon Johnson which resulted in the Vikings final touchdown, he would have been better off throwing a 50/50 pass.

There is no question these Lions are not playing like a playoff team and while no one wants to see another wasted season, sometimes you have to take a step backward before you move forward.

The defensive front seven will need an upgrade in the offseason. Finding a play-maker at cornerback to team up with Darius Slay would be good too. However, it doesn’t stop there.

This will probably be T.J. Lang‘s final season in Detroit, whether he retires or is sent packing. They will need to find his replacement. It also wouldn’t hurt if they can find more talent for this O-line as well. And either Michael Roberts needs to step up as the tight end of the present and future or the Lions will need to find someone who will.

Don’t be too surprised either if Bob Quinn looks for a quarterback to groom in one of the next two drafts. 2020 seems more feasible because of the other holes he will be trying to fill next spring.

Finally, as for Matt Patricia, like any first-time head coach, he is being tested. If his confidence in himself or his system waver he will fail. He has to walk the fine path of learning on the job what he needs to change in his approach while not sacrificing his belief in his system.

Bill Belichick is widely hailed as one of the greatest head coaches of all-time, if not the greatest. But it took him time to get his traction. He had some mediocre results in Cleveland as the Browns head coach, yet seemed close making them a contender when they closed up shop, moved to Baltimore to become the Ravens and decided to leave him behind.

Now, look at where he’s at.

None of us are happy with how this season has gone so far, but winning takes the right people in the front office, coaching staff and on the roster. That mix rarely happens immediately. Some of those areas might need a change, but like it or not, many of the moves this franchise has made look like the right ones and certainly do point towards a better tomorrow. So while, as I often say, ‘if I had patience I’d be a doctor’, it may just pay off this time.

Even if being a Lions fan sucks today.