Getty Lions wideout Marvin Hall gets crunched by Carolina.
The Detroit Lions had a chance to score a huge win for their suddenly desperate 2020 season on Sunday, but fell flat in all too usual fashion, collapsing against the Carolina Panthers.
Now, as a result, nobody is excited to see the Lions take the field against the Houston Texans on Thanksgiving Day. Even impartial writers are getting antsy with the tenure of Matt Patricia, which has begun to spiral out of control a bit. Following Detroit’s ugly 20-0 shutout loss, even Peter King was at a loss for why Patricia still has a job in a Football Morning in America piece, and explained that he isn’t exactly excited to see how much Detroit has improved in 4 more days.
King wrote:
“How much longer can Matt Patricia last? After 6-10 and 3-12-1 in his first two years, the Lions fell to 4-6 with quite likely the ugliest loss of Patricia’s 28: They were shut out by a backup quarterback making his first NFL start, P.J. Walker. Lack of Discipline of the Week: Carolina was going to punt late in the fourth quarter. Fourth-and-five. On consecutive snaps, Romeo Okwara and Nick Williams were called for encroachment. First down, Carolina. Victory formation. End of game. How embarrassing for this once-proud franchise. Can’t wait to see the Lions play on Thanksgiving.”
Many folks will likely take exception with King referring to the team as a “once proud” franchise, but that is beside the point. Patricia has been drawing heat from nearly everywhere in terms of his present and future and that’s especially true given how bad the team has been under his watch with a 13-28-1 record.
The Lions might have no choice but to move on from Patricia soon, and that could be what happens if the team continues to melt down in crunch time. The national television audience might only amplify the fact that the Lions need to make some big changes to their franchise moving forward and get serious.
That day of reckoning could be on the way, but perhaps not soon enough for those like King.
Lions Thanksgiving History
Fans have a long tradition of being frustrated by the Lions on Thanksgiving Day. Detroit’s been playing on the holiday since 1937 and has a below average 37-40-2 record all time on the holiday. Their most common opponents have typically been rivals from the NFC North, but occasionally the team will cross over and play an AFC squad as they are doing this season. In that scenario, the Lions have played teams like the Chiefs, Patriots, Colts, Dolphins and others in the past.
Lions Thanksgiving Game 2020
This season, the Lions will tangle with the Houston Texans on Thanksgiving for their traditional game in what could be a key matchup for the team’s playoff lives. Detroit last played Houston on Thanksgiving of 2012 in what became a controversial loss. The Lions have lost their last 3 Thanksgiving games, and their last victory came in 2016 at the last second against the Minnesota Vikings on a field goal. Since, the Lions have lost to the Vikings and then the Bears twice the last few seasons in very frustrating fashion.
Safe to say the Lions badly need a win this season to help not only turn things around on the field but in the minds of their fans. Detroit is finishing out a must win stretch of 3 games that will culminate with the Texans on Thanksgiving, and realistically it’s another team Detroit should beat on paper given how poorly they have played at times this season.
The games aren’t played on paper, however, which means that the team once again faces a tough challenge this week.
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