Apathy – An absence or suppression of passion, emotion, or excitement. Can be a symptom of repeated exposure to Detroit Lions football.

It’s that time of year again, where the losses just don’t sting like they used to. Meaningless football is no fun, but it’s all we have now. My goal, as always, is perspective, so that’s what I will try to provide. 

Hey! Apathy! Good to see you!

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Why so serious?

Just because the apathy has set in for me doesn’t mean that everyone shares this mindset. Just check out some of the headlines from around the interwebs that covered the Lions 19-16 loss to the Redskins:

Lions suffer embarrassing loss against one-win Washington

In losing to Washington, Detroit Lions coach Matt Patricia gives no reason to keep his job

Detroit Lions grades: Quarterback, defensive backs, coaching earn F’s at Washington

Let’s quickly tackle each of these headlines that are way too emotionally charged for the state of the team they are aimed at.

Embarrassing?

For a loss to be “embarrassing”, doesn’t there have to be some level of positive expectation involved. What was to be gained in this game in terms of the win-loss column? The Detroit Lions, now losers of 7 of the last 8 games, had just a 16% chance to make the playoffs…even if they ran the table, finishing 9-6-1. Say what you want about the quality (or lack thereof) of their opponent, but the Lions were playing on the road and had more talent on their injury report than on the field. 

Make no mistake, the Lions are plenty embarassing. But that isn’t the takeaway here. In the post-Matthew Stafford landscape, the win total is only relevant in terms of the draft status, which will be much more important than last year. The Lions were probably taking TJ Hockenson regardless, as they had very specific needs to fill, with TE being the most glaring. The 2020 draft will likely be a “best player available” type of situation, as the Lions have holes everywhere. If the NFL draft order holds the Lions would now select 7th. For reference, the Jacksonville Jaguars took EDGE Josh Allen at number 7 last year. His 8 sacks, 9 tackles for loss, and 16 QB hits would all rank first for Detroit. Would you really feel better if the Lions scrape together a couple extra wins down the stretch and pick somewhere in the teens? 

Making the playoffs is difficult enough with a healthy QB. Hoping to win out with a green backup is a pipe dream. We saw against Dallas that even when Jeff Driskel plays, dare I say, great, it can still end in a loss.

Patricia’s job status

As far as Patricia losing his job is concerned, it ain’t happening. Not now, and not at the end of the season. For better or worse, this story is still being written, so let’s just let it play out and circle back later.

Matthew Stafford’s injury is a massive scapegoat that Patricia can point to as to why this season has gone off the rails. Not that the results were great with him (3-4-1), but the Lions looked like an offensive force with Stafford under center and playing the best ball of his career.

Even without the Stafford injury, year two would be a quick hook for a first-time head coach, particularly one who is so closely linked to the GM who hired him, professionally and personally. It may be delaying the inevitable, but pulling the plug now would be a reactionary and emotionally driven move, as there is no contingency plan for what comes next.

Who would even take these jobs in the unlikely scenario that Patricia and/or Quinn are let go? This team has been constructed in such a specific way as to replicate the Patriot way, on and off the field. The reason the Lions drafted a player like Jahlani Tavai so high, or overpaid for a guy like Justin Coleman, is because they were exactly what Matt Patricia wanted to fit his very specific scheme. The next coach would be facing a complete roster overhaul, and would likely be doomed from the start.

Flunking out

It’s always helpful to get out your frustrations by giving your team a bad report card. But Fs all around? That’s a bit extreme. It is unrealistic to expect this team to just “take care of business” against anyone for the remainder of 2019. This is now a “see who can help you in 2020” situation. Take the perspective of the opposing team: Do you think Washington, despite being 1-9, was expecting this current version of the Lions to stroll into town and hand them another loss? When playing the “look ahead at the schedule” game, every other team is circling Detroit as a win at this point.

If Matthew Stafford put up the type of line that Jeff Driskel did, it would be “F” worthy. But this isn’t Matthew Stafford. What you are looking for in Jeff Driskel is the upside to warrant resigning him to be a developmental-type player behind Stafford in the future. In my opinion, even with the ugly INTs he coughed up, there was still plenty to like from Driskel’s tape. His running ability jumps off the screen, and he has now rushed for 151 yards in his three starts. He also completed over 60% of his passes in this game. He just needs to avoid trying to do too much, which was also a problem with Stafford’s game early in his career. Not an “F”, more like an “incomplete” (pun intended). 

The report card also handed an “F” to the defensive back unit, which held Dwayne Haskins under 50%, with no TDs, and only 156 yards through the air. Haskins definitely should’ve had a better day, as he missed a couple of open receivers for easy scores, but if you got credit for almost making plays the Lions would have several Super Bowls under their belts. 

This unit also featured a rookie 5th round pick in Amani Oruwariye getting his first significant action and hauling in a really nice INT in the 4th quarter of a close game. Pro Football Focus noticed…

This is exactly what I mean by finding out what you have going into next season. If Oruwariye is a starting-caliber player, maybe you can justify parting ways with a guy like Darius Slay, who wasn’t great in this game. One of the benefits of a season gone awry is that you can take the training wheels off of young players like Oruwariye and see if they are long term solutions.

And finally, the coaching staff was also handed a failing grade. Did Matt Patricia miss a 39-yard field goal? Did Darrell Bevell throw three interceptions? Did (special teams coach) John Bonamego tell Marvin Hall to field a punt on the goal line, only to be tackled at the 2-yard line? Players play the game, and it’s just really hard to win when you make these kinds of mistakes.

Some heads will roll come seasons end, with Bonamego and DC Paul Pasqualoni the most likely candidates for the chopping block. But ask the players that made these mistakes behind closed doors if their coaches let them down, or they just made dumb mistakes. It will be the latter.

Speaking of Paul Pasqualoni…

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One of the other interesting developments from this game is the fact that Matt Patricia has now taken over more of the defensive playcalling from Pasqualoni. The details are sketchy, since Patricia is, of course, being vague and snarky when asked about the specifics. From MLive:

“I don’t know. I’m not going to get into that stuff. Again, I’m not really going to get into the details. It changes week by week.”

Sure, we don’t need answers to simple questions. We’ll just keep showing up and pumping support (and $$$) into this team and assume things are running smoothly under the hood. Maybe Patricia is just protecting uncle Paulie and doesn’t want him to be the fall guy until seasons end. But the results on the field were much better than they have been in recent weeks, particularly from the resurgent linebacker unit. 

Could it be that Washington just doesn’t have a very potent offense? Perhaps. But bad quarterbacks have lit the Lions up so far this season (see: Trubisky, M., Jones, D.), so I think the situation is worth monitoring. Patricia earned the Lions gig by being a “defensive genius” (Mike Daniels’ words, not mine) in New England, so why not take on more on-field DC duties? This is another way Matt Patricia can sneakily avoid the hot seat. If the Lions defense can stabilize the rest of the way, Patricia can point to his defensive playcalling takeover as a reason for the turnaround.

Giving thanks

As the Lions prepare for their Thanksgiving rematch against the Chicago Bears, I thought I would close out this week’s observations by acknowledging some people I am thankful to have in my life.

“Can’t settle for field goals” guy

This guy is always there for you when you need him, like when the Lions lost to Green Bay 23-22, a game in which Matt Prater made 5 FGs. The Lions held the Redskins without an offensive touchdown, as their only scoring (outside of a kickoff return TD) came via the leg of Dustin Hopkins. Yet the Lions still lost. I wonder what he and his brother, “gotta cash in on your red zone opportunities” guy are doing for Thanksgiving (Washington scored zero TDs on their two red-zone trips). 

“You can’t win without a running game” guy

This guy has been on the Lions’ case since Barry lost the will to play the game he loves. Detroit out-rushed Washington 175-86, picking Bo Scarbrough off the discard pile and getting damn near 100 yards out of him (18-98). Yet the Lions lost. I haven’t heard from “you can’t win without a running game” guy in a while. I hope he’s ok. 

“Gotta win the time of possession” guy

Can’t win if you don’t have the ball, right? This guy gets it. The Lions out-possessed Washington by seven minutes in this game. Yet the Lions still lost. Bah! Having the ball is overrated.

Enjoy the Thanksgiving game everyone! Remember, we are lucky to have this tradition to enjoy every year (until they inevitably take it away from us).

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