The best thing that can be said about the Detroit Lions’ Week 11 trip to Carolina is that it’s over. And based on the embarrassing, lifeless performance from the Lions in the 20-0 loss to the Panthers, it’s time for the Bob Quinn/Matt Patricia experience to be over in Detroit, too.
That decision ultimately falls to new Lions owner Sheila Ford-Hamp, who took over the control of the team earlier this year when her mother, Martha Ford, stepped away. The new owner can prove there’s a new sheriff in town, a new way of doing business in Allen Park.
It’s been a common refrain from segments of the fan base for years. “Sell the team”. There is no confidence in the Ford family owning the team. Since the late William Clay Ford bought controlling ownership of the team exactly 57 years ago today (Nov. 22, 1963), the team has battled the stigma of ownership being a net negative for the team. While that’s an overstatement in general, the plain fact that the Lions have not tasted acceptable levels of success with the Ford family in charge is inarguable.
That can change. It needs to change. If Ford-Hamp wants to change the narrative, now is the time.
Mrs. Ford-Hamp has a chance to ingratiate herself to the long-suffering fan base. It’s her team. She can change the course of the losing destiny that seems cemented for as long as Matt Patricia and Bob Quinn remain in charge of the football team. It’s time for Ford-Hamp to prove it’s her team and realize that the losing culture brought in with Patricia reflects on her personally.
Lions fans are looking for something, anything, to cling to any hope for the franchise. As long as Patricia is coaching the team, as long as Quinn is choosing the players, it’s hard to justify any real hope for the Lions. The 9-7 record that wasn’t good enough for predecessor Jim Caldwell looks like an island vacation fantasy compared to what Detroit has gotten out of three years of Patricia. Quinn’s curious personnel choices, prioritizing non-premium positions with premium draft picks among many other complicit Patricia foibles, doom him to the same fate.
This is a clear no-confidence vote on Matt Patricia, Bob Quinn and their “Patriot Way”. Most fans appear to share this dark platform. But only one person can make a difference.
The ball is in your court, Mrs. Ford-Hamp…