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The Detroit Lions have limped out of the gate during the 2020 NFL season to a miserable 0-2 start, and naturally head coach Matt Patricia is the guy getting most of the heat for that fact.
Patricia has evolved from an exciting new hire destined for greatness to a guy that simply needs more time to public enemy No. 1 in terms of Detroit football and beyond in the last few years. Now, that frustration is culminating in him being named one of the most obvious bets to get the axe first this season in the NFL.
A look at some new odds fresh off Week 2 shows that while Patricia isn’t the current odds on favorite to be fired first, he’s not far off the current pace. Adam Gase and Dan Quinn have slightly better odds thus far to lose their job first, but Patricia checks in at a +600 in close third position.
A number of complicating factors exist which could actually push Patricia higher on the list soon. First off, the Lions have a new member of the Ford family that has recently taken over ownership in Shiela Ford Hamp. Nobody knows what she might be thinking as it relates to a change or her feelings on the season. Additionally, the Lions have already suffered through a few miserable seasons with Patricia at the helm and 2020 was supposed to be different with a ‘playoffs or bust’ mandate. So far, the same types of errors keep being made by the team in losses, which is always a bad look for a staff.
With a loss in Week 3, Patricia’s team certainly wouldn’t be eliminated from postseason contention, but it would be very tough duty for them to climb back into the picture, perhaps making it easier to make an eventual move with the coach when all is said and done.
9-24-1 is an ugly mark for a coach no matter what metrics are used, and if that number gets worse, Patricia could only find himself in more trouble than he is already. If the Lions keep up the losing, he could sit atop this list easily in the coming weeks.
The best move for Patricia to avoid all this heat? No matter the current odds, just win, baby.
Terry Bradshaw Roasts Matt Patricia
That’s something which former NFL quarterback turned Fox Sports analyst Terry Bradshaw would agree with. Speaking on Sunday, Bradshaw admitted that he doesn’t understand how Patricia has made the Lions any better than the team he took over from Jim Caldwell. Additionally, Bradshaw said the Lions are wasting Matthew Stafford’s prime as a result of this.
Patricia is 9-24-1 as coach of the Lions and has had the team close to competing and winning games, but close doesn’t get the job done whatsoever in the NFL. Stafford has taken some steps forward within Darrell Bevell’s offense, but Patricia’s bread and butter was defense. So far, Detroit’s defense has only gotten worse during his entire tenure as head coach.
Will the Lions elect to make a move if Patricia continues to struggle? It’s more than possible, and if they do, it would represent the team starting over yet again, just like they did when they hired Patricia.
That’s what happens when a plan doesn’t come together, something Bradshaw would admit is happening.
Matt Patricia’s Lions Tenure
Patricia came to the Lions fresh off success in New England in 2018, and struggled out of the gate to capture the attention of the locker room. A bumpy start paved the way to a more solid finish in 2018 with the team only winning six games, but defeating squads like the New England Patriots, Green Bay Packers and Carolina Panthers, which offered hope.
Patricia has helped the Lions stay in games for the most part in 2019, something which the team struggled with in 2018, but has not gotten them over the hump at closing. That’s perhaps his biggest wart so far as a boss, combined with a lousy defense that has not picked up the program whatsoever. Patricia might get more of a pass considering the absurd amount of injuries he’s dealt with, but it’s hard to ignore that in his tenure as coach, the Lions have had the same discipline problems plague them that always have through the years.
The bet was that both Patricia and Quinn get a mulligan on 2019 considering the rash of injuries that have set the team back, while also living with the understanding that 2020 is likely the make or break year for this group.
So far, it’s been more break than make for Patricia, and the pressure is on him the rest of the way as a result of this. He might even become the first head coach to lose his job if the oddmakers are right in the end.
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