Matt Patricia Shouldn't Get a Second Season With the Lions

The Detroit Lions rolled over to their division rival Chicago Bears; the 12-point loss was a closer final score than the game was as they fell behind 26-0 out of the gate. It was the third double-digit loss in as many weeks. Matt Patricia does not have them prepared, and between that and his general demeanor, it would probably behoove the Lions to cut their losses after the season.

Jim Caldwell went 36-28 in four seasons in Detroit including 9-7 each of the last two seasons. This was not good enough for Lions brass and he was fired, but the team has only regressed under Patricia.

On offense, Matthew Stafford was sacked six times today, which was actually an improvement from last week when he was sacked 10 times by the Vikings. On defense, which is supposed to be Patricia’s specialty, they gave up season-highs in yards (355) and completion percentage (76.7) to Mitchell Trubisky.

Maybe you could rationalize a step backwards on the field if Patricia carried himself with more dignity, but he’s yet another Bill Belichick disciple who tries to emulate his former boss’s persona without having had the head coaching success to justify it yet.

Patricia chastised the Lions media for not having enthusiasm for their jobs in August. He criticized a reporter’s posture last week, before his team put on their spineless performance against the Vikings. He has the most disheveled appearance of any current head coach. Just as struggling out of the gate would not be as dire if he presented himself better, having a surly disposition and looking like a hangover wouldn’t matter one iota if the Lions were 6-3 instead of 3-6.

As PFT managing editor Michael David Smith points out, it’s probably unlikely that Lions GM Bob Quinn would make the move to get rid of Matt Patricia after just one season. For one, they go back a long way. Secondly, making that decision so swiftly would be an indictment on his decision.

Nevertheless, Patricia has not shown he deserves another year to try to turn the Lions around.