The Detroit Lions defense should be better next season if …

Will Patricia be willing to make defensive adjustments?

In Matt Patricia’s two years at the helm, the Detroit Lions defense has been mostly horrible. In his first season, he was molding the roster to get the players needed to make his defense work. When they acquired ‘Snacks’ Harrison it was actually pretty good the rest of the season finishing as the number 10 overall defense after a horrendous start.

Last season no one came to the rescue and it showed. Matt Patricia took over running the defense on game day and the results were nothing shy of a train wreck. Now to be fair the dominant defensive line Patricia and everyone else expected never occurred due to injuries and players not living up to expectations.

So how do we know this year’s acquisitions will meet expectations? Signing and drafting players is always a little bit of a crapshoot, but the good teams get it right more often than not, while the bad teams are consistently making poor choices.

The Lions clearly didn’t get it right last season, but we shouldn’t overlook the coaching. Good coaches put their players in a position to succeed. Was the Lions defense really in a position to succeed last season?

When we consider Matt Patricia’s scheme and his inability or just plain stubbornness not to make adjustments, then there is reason to have concern for next season regardless of whoever the Lions acquire this offseason.

Matt Patricia saw the same thing we did last year, his defensive line couldn’t pressure opposing passers while the secondary played mainly man coverage. It’s not rocket science, competent NFL quarterbacks plus forever to pass means defenses will be torched.

No cornerback, no matter how good they are, can cover a receiver for the amount of time quarterbacks had to look over the Lions defense last season. The occasional blitz helped, but Patricia stubbornly wanted to rush just his defensive line and seldom made adjustments to give his defense an opportunity to compete.

The defense wasn’t good last season, but I really believe that with better management and adjustments, it could have been functionally average. That would be the difference between having the number three pick in the draft and maybe being a seven-win team.

When Stafford went down the Lions fate was sealed, but they could have definitely been more competitive, even after Stafford’s injury, if the defense was even average.

So as the Lions try to assemble a winner, the real question is still a matter of whether Matt Patricia will actually learn from last season’s debacle. Will he allow his new defensive coordinator,  whose experience is built upon being more aggressive, help implement a defensive style that will put the players in a better position to succeed? Or will it be more of the same old stubbornness?

With a few more good additions, the defense should definitely be better next season. But in the end, the Lions’ defensive success will come down to whether Matt Patricia is willing to adjust or continue to dig in his feet.