Dateline: February 5th, 2018
A day that will live in Detroit Lions infamy. On that date, the Lions introduced Matt Patricia as the team’s new head coach.
It came one day after Patricia coached the New England defense in the Patriots’ 41-33 loss to the Philadelphia Eagles in Super Bowl LII. Lions GM Bob Quinn waited until after the Super Bowl specifically to land his old Patriots colleague and friend.
The hiring was generally well-received by Lions fans. A poll we ran here at Lions Wire had over 2,100 respondents, and over 73 percent were either stoked or approved of it. Just eight percent were worried…
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The eight percent who responded “worried” wound up being correct. Patricia was fired in the middle of his third season at the helm after compiling a record of 13-29-1. His Lions defenses sank to the very bottom of the league as he discarded talented players who Patricia couldn’t get along with, plus a ridiculously uncreative and passive scheme.