Who will be the Detroit Lions head coach next season?

This week could determine Patricia’s fate

My friend and I were sifting through the debris of the Lions loss to the Packers the other day when he brought up the point that the defense had played well against the Bears until both Desmond Trufant and Justin Coleman went down to injury. I reminded him that Mitch Trubisky is probably the worst quarterback on the Lions schedule.

Yet his point was valid. The secondary, if healthy, does have talent. Unfortunately, Coleman is out for the season, but Trufant will be back and Amani Oruwariye is developing.

Jeff Okudah had a difficult time against Green Bay, but when you consider there were no offseason team activities nor exhibition games to get his feet wet and Matt Patricia allowed the Packers to continually match up Davante Adams against Okudah instead of having Oruwariye or anyone else trail Adams when he was in the game, it wasn’t an unexpected outcome.

It also shouldn’t discourage Lions fans about Okudah too much. Adams is an elite receiver and plenty of good cornerbacks in the league have trouble with him.

The really discouraging thing is that the defense hasn’t made any progress since Matt Patricia’s arrival. That is also the biggest strike against Matt Patricia. The offense is fine, although I do wonder why they haven’t stretched the field more with Marvin Hall in Kenny Golladay’s absence, but overall, it’s fine.

While more offense could have certainly helped last Sunday, the complete lack of defense is still the continual problem.

There is merit to the thought process that this week’s game against the Arizona Cardinals will determine Patricia’s fate because let’s be honest, it is unlikely without a huge step up on the defensive side of the ball that they will beat the New Orleans Saints in week four. That means the Lions will be a pathetic 0-4 going into their bye week unless Matt Patricia can find a way to beat the Cardinals.

The Ford family doesn’t traditionally make in-season moves, like firing their head coach, but Sheila Ford Hamp is, technically speaking, a new sheriff in town, and anything is possible.

Since most of the media and fans have decided it’s a foregone conclusion that Matt Patricia will be gone after this season if not at the bye week, one has to wonder who will be steering the long-suffering ship ‘Same old Lions’ next season?