Timing Is Right for Sheila Ford Hamp to Dismiss Matt Patricia and Bob Quinn
Oh, Sheila, the time is right.
It's time to call it quits on the Matt Patricia-Bob Quinn experiment in Detroit.
Lions fans have had enough, and can endure no more of the ineptitude that has been on display on a weekly basis by the team assembled by Quinn and coached by Patricia.
The latest example of the organization's porous ways was on Sunday in its 35-29 loss to the New Orleans Saints -- a game in which the Lions allowed Drew Brees & Co. to score 35 unanswered points on five straight possessions.
Sure, Matthew Stafford and the offense made a valiant comeback and made it interesting in the end.
But, as has been the case in every single loss this season, when the time called for the defense to make a stop, it failed to do so.
On third-and-3 at the Detroit 47-yard line and with two minutes to play, Saints star running back Alvin Kamara managed to take a toss from Brees and gain the first down, ultimately putting an end to the game with no timeouts remaining for the Lions.
General manager Bob Quinn speaks to Lions ownership
© Tim Fuller-USA TODAY Sports
Kamara didn't see a hole he didn't like on Sunday, either.
He gashed Patricia's defense for 83 yards and a touchdown on 19 carries, while fellow veteran back Latavius Murray also had himself a day with 64 yards and two scores on 14 rush attempts.
Then, there was Brees exposing the Lions through the air.
Sure, he didn't throw for 300 yards. But, he still often had too much time in the pocket, and only had six incompletions on the afternoon.
He finished 19-of-25 passing for 246 yards, two scores and one interception, good enough for a passer rating of 116.4.
Additionally, New Orleans' offense converted on eight of its first nine third-down plays (finished 10-of-14), and scored on each of its four red-zone trips.
And remember, this was all without Brees' No. 1 target in wide receiver Michael Thomas.
Detroit Lions head coach Matt Patricia
© Raj Mehta-USA TODAY Sports
So much for the 41-year-old Brees being washed up.
And if you are, for whatever reason, under the assumption that this poor performance by the defense is some sort of an abberation, think again.
Consider this: The Lions have managed to blow a double-digit lead in all three of their losses this season.
They allowed 21 unanswered points to Mitchell Trubisky and the Bears -- yes, the same Mitchell Trubisky that is now Nick Foles' backup -- in Week 1, 31 unanswered points to Aaron Rodgers and the Packers in Week 2 and now 35 unanswered to Brees and the Saints in Week 4.
And the reasons for each collapse have been all-too-familiar: An ineffective pass rush, porous man coverage and an inability to make tackles in the open field.
How's that "process" working for you, Matt?
Guess what, it's not. And it's never going to work for him and Quinn in Motown.
The inevitable has been reached for what probably seems like the gazillionth time for many Lions fans: Patricia and Quinn need to be given their walking papers by owner Sheila Ford Hamp.
And with the franchise going into its bye week, the timing has never been more right.
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