Now Matt Patricia Knows What It's Like to Coach the Detroit Lions

Early in August, I wrote a post about new Detroit Lions coach Matt Patricia and how, in my opinion, he didn’t fully appreciate the stink of the franchise. A franchise with one playoff win since 1957 and among the worst in all of sports.

It would be an extreme understatement to say more passionate Lions fans than myself did not appreciate the take. And, boy, did they find time to write some emails on the topic.

Most were too blue and aggressive to share, but the SFW one below serves as a very good sample. A major theme was that this year would’t be the Same Old Lions, or S.O.L. as the affliction is commonly known in Michigan.

"I never emailed a beat writer before, but my friend you are terrible at your job. Write about real football and not some idiotic opinion about how this team is doomed.. That might have been the case in the past, but for the first time in decades the city of Detroit believes in the Lions as an up and coming team. Do yourself a favor and get better at your job so you won’t have to write pointless articles on outdated perceptions. Obviously you are new at your job because neither me or my peers have heard of you, so take my advice and report real news… Not some bs article that wastes the viewers time. I will say the Lions have sucked in the past and have been a let down, but a reality check says this isn’t your same ole Lions! It’ll be funny to see if you keep your ground or if you’ll jump on the bandwagon like every other fair weather Detroiter who used to think the same way until they saw the changes we are making."

In completely unrelated news, the Lions are currently losing 48-17 to the New York Jets in the season opener at Ford Field. Matthew Stafford threw four interceptions before being pulled. The Jets just picked off another Matt Cassel pass.

Detroit has been outplayed in all three facets of the game. Patricia’s sideline demeanor consists of shaking his head and looking exasperated. Save for the  beard it’s the same Lions coach we’ve seen forever.

Now he knows what it’s like. Always a painful lesson.