Matt Patricia has laid this season on the line and it isn’t good enough

What Patricia has accomplished isn’t good enough

The secondary is still the strength of the defense even though they have struggled as well. Young Jeff Okudah has had a difficult time and as per Pro Football Focus, he ranks 132 out of 132 cornerbacks in the NFL.

That doesn’t mean he can’t still become a very good to elite cornerback, but something is wrong. Whether he’s just putting too much pressure on himself or there is a problem with the coaching, it is correctable. Just maybe not with the current coaching staff in place.

But regardless of who is manning the Lions or any other teams secondary, they are only about as good as their defensive front. Teams that create pressure on opposing passers make their secondary better. Teams that can’t mount any pressure hang their secondary out to dry.

Guess which one the Lions are?

In a week and a half, the Lions will travel to Jacksonville to battles the Jaguars. Matt Patricia has a lot of work to do in order to have his team ready to play. The rest of Detroit’s schedule is favorable enough to give them a chance to pick up a few wins and put themselves in the playoff chase.

However, if the Lions can’t play any better than they have been, then it is the other mediocre teams they will be facing who will be licking their chops.

Matt Patricia’s comments about having a lot of work to do when he arrived in Detroit may have just been a misunderstanding. Perhaps he simply meant that he felt like there were many personnel moves he needed to make in order to have a roster that could run his system as opposed to how it had been constructed for Jim Caldwell.

Perhaps he meant that he felt like he and his staff had much work to do to implement his system.

But regardless of how it was meant, what he has accomplished here in the Motor City isn’t good enough and I would dare say that there is as much work right now, if not more then when Patricia arrived, to turn these Lions into contenders.

Matt Patricia will be given the rest of the season to prove himself. Despite his players being willing to take the blame for this slow start, their inability to execute his defensive system is a reflection of the coaching staff.

The roster has been toggled to give Patricia several former Patriots who have played in this system previously and the majority of the rest he considers the right fit. If he can’t get his system to work with a roster he approved of, then how can we ever expect him to turn this sinking ship around?