Detroit Lions, Matt Patricia must hire an innovative offensive coordinator

The first casualty of the Lions poor season was former offensive coordinator Jim Bob Cooter. One season after the Lions had the seventh highest scoring team in the NFL and one of the most explosive passing attacks as well, the wheels came flying off the cart.

While it is true that the ground game took some serious steps forward, the passing game spent much of the year on life support.

Jim Bob Cooter’s offense was conservative and predictable. In the season-opening loss to the New York Jets, several members of the Jets defense claimed they knew what plays the Lions were going to run and played like it as well.

That same sentiment was echoed a few of times during the season.

In a league filled with elite athletes like the NFL, who are paid to watch film and learn the tendencies of their opponents, you simply cannot afford to make their job easy.

Now as Matt Patricia searches for his new offensive coordinator, this will most likely be the most important decision he will make this offseason.

Because while there are definite needs on this side of the ball as well, there is still enough holdover talent to make this offense bounce back quickly. It’s primarily just a matter of getting the most out of what players are on the roster.

This is where and why the new offensive coordinator needs to be ‘innovative’.

Some people see the term ‘innovative’ and, in football terms, think it means reinventing how the game is played. Over the years there have been many who have done that, but to be innovative doesn’t mean they have to change the game. They just have to find ways to create confusion in opposing defenses and get the most out of what talent is on the team.

Having Pro Bowl caliber players certainly makes the game easier since those elite stars have the ability to win one on one match-ups on a consistent basis, but consider this; not all Super Bowl champions have All-Pros everywhere. Name the last receiver, that wasn’t a tight end, to play on a New England Patriots Super Bowl winning team that was half as good as Calvin Johnson?

If you said Randy Moss, you’re wrong because while the 2007 Patriots were undefeated in the regular season and rolled into Super Bowl XLII as the heavy favorites against the New York Giants, the dream was crushed under the relentless pressure of the Giants defense as they upset the Patriots 17-14.

The point is that the Patriots never won the Super Bowl with an All-Pro receiver. Sure quarterback Tom Brady has made his teammates better, but he has seldom had elite receivers to throw to outside of Randy Moss for one season and tight end Rob Gronkowski.

Simply put; the Lions need an innovative mind that will use their weapons to the fullest of their abilities next season.

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