Detroit Lions: Mike Florio preaches patience with Matt Patricia

After the Detroit Lions less than stellar results last season, Matt Patricia needs to impress. But if he doesn’t, should this franchise exercise patience?

Last year was a tough watch for Detroit Lions fans. Made only tougher by the decades of ineptitude that has been displayed by this organization. Whenever this team loses, it is hard to know whether that is just part of a rebuilding process, or simply another misstep by the franchise.

General manager Bob Quinn and head coach Matt Patricia have focused the past two off-seasons on bringing in former New England Patriots. The biggest of which is defensive end Trey Flowers for a $90 million contract over the next five seasons.

On Friday’s Jamie and Stoney radio program, host Mike Stone (“Stoney”) interviewed Pro Football Talk’s Mike Florio. The subject turned to all of the Patriot acquisitions, and Florio believed that those moves were key to turning things around in Detroit (03-29-19):

"“To get some of those guys in there that can influence teammates on what it takes to be a championship team… It’s been a long time since the Lions have had that kind of culture. Patricia and Bob Quinn are trying to bring it to town…. The more former Patriots they can get in the building, the more current Lions will begin to realize what it takes to be a championship team.”"

These “New Mitten Patriots” are easy to poke fun at, but Flowers should help the defense to take that next step by fully understanding Patricia’s scheme – and helping others to do the same. Of course, for this to really work, the NFL Draft will play a major role in this team’s championship aspirations.

With every rookie acquisition, there should be an opportunity to mold those fresh players to this new culture. To make the team about winning and sacrifice, instead of losing and complaining about being overworked in one capacity or another.

This commitment to winning has always escaped this Detroit Lions franchise. But the nagging question is whether or not Patricia – and by extension Quinn – is the guy to finally turn this team into a contender. Florio spoke glowingly about Patricia in his interview with Stoney (03-29-19):

"“I know this – the people in New England that sign the checks have a huge amount of respect and admiration for Matt Patricia. And there are some in New England that would think he’s even smarter than Bill Belichick. From a straight smarts, retention, memory stand point.”"

Anytime you are compared to New England head coach Bill Belichick, it feels like a good thing because of his vast accomplishments. But many of Belichick’s former underlings have had this comparison and never won a Super Bowl on their own. So, it can feel a bit hollow because no one knows if Patricia will be the one that actually pays dividends. Florio continued (03-29-19):

"“That’s a guy I think you want to give every opportunity to figure things out in Detroit and change the culture. That’s the biggest challenge – is changing the culture. When you’ve had a culture that really hasn’t been a great one for sixty years.”"

Sixty years. There is a lot of work ahead of this Detroit Lions management to get this thing right. Can this fan base be patient enough to wait for things to change? If this season is another failure in terms of record – and it very well could be – will another year be given to Quinn and Patricia?

I was hopeful that last season the Detroit Lions would come out of the gates and simply outmaneuver their opponents, which would show that Quinn had built the team with good drafts and a smart coaching hire. That Monday night opener against the lowly New York Jets proved that was not going to happen.

So in 2019, it is hard not to feel apprehensive about the possible results for this season. Detroit Lions fans have been burned too many times – seen so many disappointments that they aren’t even worth recounting.

Everything Florio said sounds good. Patricia is smart and working on building a proper winning culture. It is a sensible thing for a team that is synonymous with losing. But that constant state of losing leaves the question: Are Quinn and Patricia just another in a long line of bad decisions?

The only way to get a definitive answer is to start winning now. It will make all of the uneasiness go away. It isn’t a simple proposition, but teams take a big turn in one year all the time in the NFL. For the sake of Quinn and Patricia, 2019 needs to be that year.