NFL Writer Skewers Lions’ Matt Patricia: ‘Nobody’s Done Less With More’

The Detroit Lions have struggled in a major way this season, and Matt Patricia has come into focus as a result of the team’s trouble to win consistently.

Patricia continues to fail to get his team over the hump, and as a result, he continues to take abuse from multiple different angles on the internet. After an ugly 34-20 loss which was an indictment on Patricia and his tenure, ESPN’s Seth Wickersham wondered aloud if Patricia was indeed the worst assistant to ever come out of the New England Patriots’ coaching tree given what he inherited in Detroit and what he’s done.

All told, it’s tough to dispute this claim. Patricia not only had a more complete roster, but he had a front office member he meshed with in Bob Quinn. He had a quarterback in Matthew Stafford that was very established and theoretically ready to take the next step. The Lions themselves had been on the doorstep of the playoffs. Then, the bottom completely fell out.

Patricia is fighting history in terms of his own present and future, and while there have been a ton of failed assistants on the Bill Belichick coaching tree, it’s quite possible that Patricia could go down as one of the worst in history.

Matt Patricia on the Hot Seat

The Lions coach is feeling the heat in 2020 in a very big way in the court of public opinion and it’s due to his inability to win games consistently and show up in games against all kinds of competition. As a whole, Patricia is 12-27-1 as a coach with the team going into Week 10. That’s a pretty futile mark of trouble for the team which he had promised to turn around into a major contender. Patricia has struggled to find any shred of consistency in his time with the team, and the Lions have suffered as a result.

This season, if Patricia’s team falls apart further, the Lions could choose to move on should they be dissatisfied with where the team finishes. It seemed not wise to expect a change before that time whatsoever, considering the franchise has rarely elected to make dramatic in-season shakeups.

Matt Patricia’s Record With Lions

Certainly, a 12-27-1 record isn’t a great way to build faith in a program, and to say that Patricia’s tenure has been a mess has been a massive understatement. He’s struggled with a few things outside his control such as 2019’s injury outbreak, but there is no reason Patricia should be struggling in year 3 considering he had plenty of his players in his scheme and theoretically, a blank slate with which to work. Worse, Patricia has become known for his team’s inability to finish games and not beat the better teams he faces on the roster. Certainly, that’s been a calling card in his tenure.

Will Patricia survive 2020? That remains anyone’s guess, but it’s clear folks are starting to notice just how badly he might be performing relative to the miserable coaching tree which proceeded him.

It’s clear Patricia hasn’t done anything to help his own standing on such lists.

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