Detroit Lions Fire Head Coach Matt Patricia and GM Bob Quinn

The Detroit Lions fired head coach Matt Patricia and their general manager, Bob Quinn, the sources report. This comes as an expected decision, following frustrating two and a half seasons of an unsuccessful rebuild and subpar performances.

Even before the Thanksgiving Day’s game against the Houston Texans, Patricia’s position was insecure, with the Lions losing to Carolina Panthers in Charlotte, 20-0. The last straw was a defeat at home this Thursday, 41-25, which ruled out Detroit from the playoff race, as they now have four wins and seven losses.

His replacement is going to be Lions’ offensive coordinator Darrell Bevell who is, according to various sources, staying there until the end of the campaign.

The Detroit Lions announced today that Bob Quinn and Matt Patricia have been relieved of their duties. pic.twitter.com/Tz5Rc7y53Y

— Detroit Lions (@Lions) November 28, 2020

Patricia was 13-29-1 during his stint in Michigan, not being able to move the Lions from the bottom of the NFC North and the entire conference. In all of his years as the head coach, the team never finished above .500.

That was completely the opposite of what the Lions’ fans hoped for, with Patricia coming to the city from the New England Patriots as one of the most gifted defensive coordinators in the league, and the person who ran Bill Belichick’s championship defense. However, there was not a single trace of that rock-solid defense at the Ford Field. Furthermore, Detroit was among the worst defensive units in the entire NFL this year.

The general manager Bob Quinn was the one who pushed hard for Patricia’s signature, and that is why he, too, leaves the organization.

Quinn would fire the former head coach Jim Caldwell, who had back-to-back years with nine wins and seven defeats, stating at the time, that the Lions are not progressing as desired and that they aren’t competitive against the “better teams” as he explained at the time.

Lions have relieved HC Matt Patricia and GM Bob Quinn of their duties

Lions EPA Per Play in 2020:
🔹 Offense – 22nd
🔹 Defense – last pic.twitter.com/6H3lPWUxg4

— PFF (@PFF) November 28, 2020

From this point of view, that was a massive mistake. The team was going downhill ever since, making a mistake after mistake, in all the aspects of functioning, on and off the field. Some of them were departures of two pivotal players, WR Golden Tate and S Quandre Diggs, who not only hurt the team’s quality, but angered the fanbase as well.

It seems that the new owner, Sheila Ford Hamp, who was the vice-president at the time of Quinn’s and Patricia’s appointment, isn’t willing to wait anymore but wants immediate results. She did give support to the duo this June but apparently decided to make radical changes and start a complete rebuild this winter.

The Lions have five more games until the end of the season, and only a theory can push them into the playoffs. It would require to see them win all those five contests, and then wait for all other results to come together.

Detroit has two games against the divisional rivals coming up, one against the Bears on the road and the second versus the Green Bay Packers at home. They are visiting the Tennessee Titans afterward and concluding the season with two consecutive events at Ford Field, against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and the Minnesota Vikings.