For the Detroit Lions’ Matt Patricia, making roster decisions will more difficult than usual.
The Detroit Lions are beginning training camp 2020. A landmark year unlike any other we’ve experienced. A year that has affected our culture in every way possible and continues to do so.
2020 is a year that has devastated the sports world. But sports are trying their best to make a comeback. In sports, there are few things more exhilarating than a comeback. Unless of course, it’s against the Lions. We’ve seen that too often already. It’s time for a different kind of comeback at Ford Field. It’s time for this long lost franchise to have some self-respect and play like winners.
Whether that happens or not is yet to be seen. However, that is the expectation of ownership and the long-suffering fans as well. The key to it actually happening will be if general manager Bob Quinn has assembled enough talent and that talent actually executes on the field under the guidance of head coach Matt Patricia.
Lions fans bemoan the ones that have gotten away. Like former assistant coaches Chuck Knox, Don Shula, and Bill Belichick. Yet since the Lions last won it all back in 1957, how often have they had the horses it takes to win it all?
Great coaches are an asset any contender needs, but they will also be the first ones to tell you that great players make winning possible. This offseason Bob Quinn chose not to be rattled by the ‘win now’ edict and panic into signing as many high profile players as possible.
This is actually a good thing since it keeps more salary-cap flexibility and quite frankly signing as many big-name free agents as possible doesn’t guarantee success. It more often than not ends in failure.
Even though it has been sort of hard at times to really follow Bob Quinn and Matt Patricia’s game plan, staying the course in this situation was probably their best bet. Now it’s a question of whether it works.