Detroit Lions: Will Matt Patricia’s preseason pattern continue on Saturday?

So the seeds of success have been planted. Matt Patricia has been given enough horses that run his kind of race to be much improved. I wouldn’t necessarily be booking Super Bowl tickets yet, but the first step of cleaning house is mostly over and now is the process of building upon what Patricia started last season.

Are they good enough to make a push for the playoffs? I certainly think so. Could they actually win a playoff game? On paper, it is reasonable to believe they have an opportunity to do so, but as I have endlessly pointed out; games aren’t won on paper.

However, looking good on paper doesn’t hurt either.

So with all the build-up, outside of Matthew Stafford who is always under scrutiny from the Lions faithful, Matt Patricia will be the one who will be under the most pressure to succeed this year.

The former rocket scientist is literally the smartest man in the room. Yet you could be in the same room as Einstein, but that doesn’t mean he could coach a football team to a championship.

It takes a certain kind of smarts, ingenuity, and intuition that not everyone is born with. Something Matt Patricia will have to prove he has this season. While with the New England Patriots, he proved to be a quick study and a more than capable coach who players attributed to making them better and inspired them to play hard for.

There are many who believe Patricia is destined to fail, while others believe he will succeed. I am among those who think he can succeed if he has learned his lessons from last year well, but there is a preseason pattern that does concern me.

Last year the Lions had two weeks of joint practices with the Oakland Raiders and the New York Giants. Both of those joint practice sessions led to exhibition games that saw the Lions get crushed. Last week the Patriots did the exact same thing to the Lions after a week of joint practices.

So the question I pose is; will it happen again this Saturday after another week of practices against the Houston Texans?