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.
