Detroit Lions: Would you rather be a Dolphins fan?
By Robert Jones
Is there another team’s blueprint the Detroit Lions should emulate?
The Detroit Lions are once again adrift in the sea of mediocrity. And quite frankly from what we have seen from them there seems to be no end in sight.
In two and a half seasons under the guidance of general manager Bob Quinn and Matt Patricia, the Lions have successfully gone from playoff-caliber to cellar dwellers. In four years at the helm former head coach Jim Caldwell had Detroit in the playoffs twice and only once did he have a losing record.
Yet Caldwell’s one losing record of 7-9 in 2015 is still better than Matt Patricia’s high water mark of 6-10 which he accomplished with the team he inherited from Caldwell in 2018. The way things are unfolding this season, it’s safe to say that Patricia probably won’t pass that seven-win mark this year either.
Since 2018 the Lions have regressed as they dropped to three wins last year and are sitting at three wins halfway through this season. Now it wouldn’t be completely surprising if Matt Patricia’s Motown kitties are able to pull out another victory or two, but the whole point is that considering Quinn and Patricia were expected to field a competitive playoff-caliber team by ownership, this has to be a big disappointment to Sheila Ford Hamp.
Quite frankly it should be a disappointment on every level. Not only are the Lions a pedestrian team at best, but it’s hard to be encouraged by the direction Bob Quinn and Matt Patricia are leading them.
For three straight offseasons, this regime has made sizable personnel changes. Now halfway through their third season together, one has to wonder where the progress is. In a move that could only be described as pure desperation, Matt Patricia has more or less ditched his beloved defensive philosophy and started to use much more zone coverage and blitz packages.
Moves that worked initially against bad teams like Jacksonville and Atlanta who struggled to start the season. Yet against the Colts and Vikings over the last two weeks, they have been shredded. The fact that the offense has been inconsistent too really hasn’t helped matters either.