The Detroit Lions will have to face a defensive conundrum
By Robert Jones
As the final two weeks of the Detroit Lions season play out on the field, the offseason plans to create a defensive juggernaut might have gone up in smoke.
The Detroit Lions season is mercifully close to an end and for awhile I’m sure that Matt Patricia could taste the dominant defense he would be wielding next season.
That was before the 2019 NFL draft and free agency became clouded by a murky offense that has been sabotaged by injuries, a trade and poor play from one of the highest paid quarterbacks in the league. That defense Matt Patricia craved so much may now be nothing more than a pipe dream.
As may the chances of turning this team around in his second year.
Welcome to Detroit Lions football. If one thing doesn’t go wrong, then three or four things will. It’s pretty much that simple.
It was a monumental task that general manage Bob Quinn and head coach Matt Patricia have taken on. The Detroit Lions don’t just have a losing culture, it’s more like an aura that can’t be penetrated by the brightest light.
There is no hope. Only cold, dark desperation and frustration. And that is often the good days.
Yet Quinn and Patricia have waded into the hopelessness with the expectation of turning things around. The expectation of creating, not just a contender, but a championship team.
To dream the impossible dream.
And if we examine Matt Patricia’s first year on the job, it is not a pretty sight. It has been just about as ugly as can be at times. Yet as we near the end of the season, there is definitely progress that has been made.
One bright spot would be the ability to piece together a rushing attack. Granted it would definitely be better if Kerryon Johnson were healthy and in the backfield, but since these remaining games don’t mean anything, it’s probably best to save him for next year anyways.
The other promising bit of progress has been the play of the defense over the past month and a half. It’s certainly not dominant, nor nearly as good as Matt Patricia has planned on, but with a few key blue-chippers, it could get much better very quickly.
If only the offense hadn’t crashed and burned…