Tag: Martha Ford

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The Detroit Lions are sticking with Bob Quinn and Matt Patricia

Embed from Getty Images No one person has been more disappointed with the season the Detroit Lions have had than owner Martha Ford. Tuesday Ford and her daughter, who happens to be the  vice chair of the Detroit Lions Sheila Ford Hamp, announced they are bringing general manager Bob Quinn and head coach Matt Patricia back.

Surely, Martha Ford, Lions team president Rod Wood and Sheila Ford Hamp knew this would be an announcement that would rub an already frustrated fan base the wrong way.

At 3-10-1, the Lions who some believed could compete for a playoff spot are one of the most underachieving teams in the NFL this year. Whether you agree with them or not they believe the team is headed in the right direction.

It could be the Fords saw growth in Matt Patricia as a coach this year, the way he carries himself publicly and in front of his team, and they saw growth as a team in the first eight games of the season.

The Lions did look like a different team offensively in the first half of the season, before the rash of injuries began to test roster depth. Quarterback Matthew Stafford fractured bones in his back in a Nov. 3 loss to the Oakland Raiders, it is safe to say that sunk any hope the Lions had of having a successful season.

The Lions have gone 0-5 since, and have barely been competitive the last two weeks, as injuries on both offense and defense have crippled the team. Ford, Wood and Ford Hamp, seem to feel a change would be too disruptive to the deeper than expected roster and cultural overhaul they  undertook bringing Patricia in these past two years, and they believe, with some good injury luck and an offseason of impact additions, they can close the gulf between them and the playoffs.

Ford Hamp who seems to be making decisions for all parties to keep Patricia and Quinn have given them what essentially amounts to a playoffs or bust mandate in 2020. Martha Ford, insisted Patricia make changes to the coaching staff, with the focus on bringing in a new defensive coordinator. Current defensive coordinator Paul Pasqualoni has seen his unit fail this season. It is a unit that was thought to be a strength before the season kicked off.

This is the right move for the Ford’s to make. Otherwise, like the Detroit Tigers and Detroit Red Wings, the Lions would have been force into a total rebuild.

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The Detroit Lions are a mess and difficult decisions are going to need to be addressed

Embed from Getty Images Detroit Lions general manager Bob Quinn decided 9-7 was simply not good enough and fired Jim Caldwell. He brought in his own head coach, Matt Patricia to get the team over-the-hump. Two seasons later Bob Quinn’s decision has netted the Detroit Lions a 9-16-1 record.

Putting an NFL team together  is a difficult task, nobody would argue with that. Draft picks can be hit or miss, the same can be said for free agents. Roughly two years ago bob Quinn said, “I think we have more than a competitive team to be competing for championships.”  Quinn missed the mark.

“At the end of the day, it’s wanting to take this team to the next level,” he said, explaining his decision to move on from Caldwell. “To me, that’s winning championships, that’s winning playoff games and that’s winning the Super Bowl.” Quinn placed the blame directly on the shoulders of Jim Caldwell.

Now that the Detroit Lions, Bob Quinn’s version and vision of the Detroit Lions is a failed product, Who will Quinn point the finger at? As of today the Detroit Lions are a whole lot further from the Super Bowl than just two years ago.

Odd’s are good Quinn will not point the finger at Matt Patricia, he would have three pointing back at himself.  The problem was Bob Quinn thinking Matt Patricia was  as good as Bill Belichick maximizing the talent on the team.

Emulating successful coaches as well as franchises is fine in theory. The Lions have one of the worst four defenses in football, by almost any metric. This is the absolute worst Lions defense perhaps in team history. Even during losing seasons the team was at least able to compete. Not this season.

The Detroit Lions defense can not get any pressure on quarterbacks. Three man rushes are a joke. NFL quarterbacks have all the time they need to find the open receiver. Dallas Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott told reporters after the game Sunday that sometimes he had enough time to read through his progressions TWICE.

That Quinn thought his roster was better than nine wins. The number Caldwell won his last season, which is also the same number Patricia has won in 26 games.  Shows how much Quinn’s estimations were off.

Detroit Lions owner Martha Ford, has some soul searching to do. She must decide if the Lions stay on the current path or not.