The Detroit Lions continues to sour their fanbase, this time opening their regular season in an embarrassing tie to one of the NFL’s worst teams.
When the Detroit Lions opted to fire head coach Jim Caldwell following the 2017 regular season, the organization parted ways with someone who had led the struggling franchise to three-winning seasons and two playoff berths during his four-year tenure. The reason? A continued lack of postseason success.
Lions general manager Bob Quinn was then able to hire his choice for head coach, former defensive coordinator for the New England Patriots, Matt Patrica. With three Super Bowl rings in his possession, Patricia went about the business of creating a winning culture in the Motor City. But despite inheriting a playoff-caliber team, the first-time head coach stumbled out of the gate, losing to an inferior New York Jets team in his Week One Motown debut at Ford Field to the tune of 48-17.
The Lions would end Patricia’s first season in Detroit posting a disappointing 6-10 record, placing them squarely in the basement of the NFC North. So how did the Lions’ brass respond this offseason? They doubled-down on Patricia, spending nearly every resource they had to stock the roster full of players that fit the second-year head coach’s scheme and would help change the losing culture.
High-priced free agents like defensive end Trey Flowers, wide receiver Danny Amendola, and cornerback Justin Coleman were inked to deal, all of whom happen to be former Patriots. Detroit used their first-round selection in the 2019 NFL Draft on a Rob Gronkowski-like tight end in Iowa’s T.J. Hockenson. Patricia covets big linebackers in his defensive scheme, so the Lions drafted Hawaii’s Jahlani Tavai in the second round despite many analysts considering it a significant reach.
The Lions made move after move in order to make Patricia’s ideas work. And Sunday’s regular-season opener against the NFL’s worst team in 2018, the Arizona Cardinals, was supposed to be the proving ground. A chance to prove that the investment made this offseason by Detroit would bear fruit and result in more wins.
Instead, the embarrassing 27-27 tie to the lowly Cardinals only served to prove two things. One, this isn’t the Same Old Lions’ team. And two, these are the same old, tired results.
Offensively, the Lions got off to a slow start. But a 17-point second quarter highlighted by back-to-back touchdowns from new arrival Amendola and third-year receiver Kenny Golladay showed just how explosive the offense can be. Combined with the greatest rookie tight end debut in NFL history by Hockenson, who capped a six-catch, 131-yard day with a third-quarter touchdown, and Detroit certainly proved this isn’t the Same Old Lions’ offense.
As for Detroit’s defense, they limited Arizona’s vaunted and mysterious Air Raid offense to just six points through the first three quarters. Yet mental mistakes, penalties, bad playcalling, fatigue, and a terribly-timed timeout all conspired together to cost the Lions an 18-point led in the fourth quarter.
In the end, the Detroit Lions barely escaped Arizona with a 27-27 tie, ending the game with a whimper as quarterback Matthew Stafford would simply throw the ball out of bounds backed up at his own endzone. The fourth-quarter collapse against one of the worst teams in the NFL doesn’t bode well for the rest of Detroit’s season with the 1-0 Los Angeles Chargers, the 1-0 Philadelphia Eagles, and the 1-0 Kansas City Chiefs on tap.