2019 Detroit Lions

[401don]

They've tried that too. Bobby Ross. Steve Mariucci. Jim Caldwell. All had been very successful, at least two of them even made it to or won the Super Bowl as head coaches.

I think finding a successful head coach involves luck, and let's face it the Lions just don't ever have any of that come their way. There's always something missing or just the wrong person for the situation. Couple of examples:

Bobby Ross - I think he could have been successful except that he lost Barry Sanders right off the bat. Barry was used to receiving special privileges and Ross was having none of it.

Jim Schwartz - Out of all the coaches that they've had since the post-Fontes carousel began, Schwartz is the guy I think was actually a darn good coach. He could make the team play better than the sum of their parts. He could identify and plan around mismatches. He could adjust game plans at halftimes. Most Lions coaches are baffled by these things. But his 'puzzle' was incomplete. He lacked self-discipline and the team caught onto that and became undisciplined.

Jim Caldwell - Had the opposite problem. He was brought in specifically to be level-headed and even-keeled, which he was. To a fault. He needed to get upset every once in a while. Maybe even once. I mean, he built a reputation for standing there stoically, which was definitely a sign of discipline. But wouldn't that have made it even more impactful had he just once [[maybe when the PI call was picked up in the Cowboys game) thrown his clipboard down? He brought calm but unfortunately to the point of complacency.

Those are the three coaches that I think had actual opportunity to succeed but were just short of being able to do so. Marty was an idiot. Mariucci seemed to take the job as a favor to Millen [[and for the paycheck), but his disinterest was evident from the get-go. Patricia suffers from thinking he's as smart as Bellichek without having proven a single thing . Those three never had a chance. Marinelli? Who knows? The teams he coached were so absent in talent that I really have no idea if he was a good coach or not. He seems happy to be back under the radar kicking butt as a defensive coordinator, so good for him.

So honestly, they just need to move on and hope that at some point a coach gels. That they have the right connection with the players on the roster. That the right coaches pick up the phone and the wrong ones miss the call when he's assembling his staff. I know there's a lot more to it, but for once I just want them to find the right guy in the right place at the right time.

Just one in my lifetime. That's all.

Good post. I don't follow the Lions as closely as the other sports [[just tune in until the end of the season, usually before Thanksgiving) and had forgotten so many have come and gone.

[EastsideAl]

They've tried that too. Bobby Ross. Steve Mariucci. Jim Caldwell. All had been very successful, at least two of them even made it to or won the Super Bowl as head coaches.

I think finding a successful head coach involves luck, and let's face it the Lions just don't ever have any of that come their way. There's always something missing or just the wrong person for the situation. Couple of examples:

Bobby Ross - I think he could have been successful except that he lost Barry Sanders right off the bat. Barry was used to receiving special privileges and Ross was having none of it.

Jim Schwartz - Out of all the coaches that they've had since the post-Fontes carousel began, Schwartz is the guy I think was actually a darn good coach. He could make the team play better than the sum of their parts. He could identify and plan around mismatches. He could adjust game plans at halftimes. Most Lions coaches are baffled by these things. But his 'puzzle' was incomplete. He lacked self-discipline and the team caught onto that and became undisciplined.

Jim Caldwell - Had the opposite problem. He was brought in specifically to be level-headed and even-keeled, which he was. To a fault. He needed to get upset every once in a while. Maybe even once. I mean, he built a reputation for standing there stoically, which was definitely a sign of discipline. But wouldn't that have made it even more impactful had he just once [[maybe when the PI call was picked up in the Cowboys game) thrown his clipboard down? He brought calm but unfortunately to the point of complacency.

Those are the three coaches that I think had actual opportunity to succeed but were just short of being able to do so. Marty was an idiot. Mariucci seemed to take the job as a favor to Millen [[and for the paycheck), but his disinterest was evident from the get-go. Patricia suffers from thinking he's as smart as Bellichek without having proven a single thing . Those three never had a chance. Marinelli? Who knows? The teams he coached were so absent in talent that I really have no idea if he was a good coach or not. He seems happy to be back under the radar kicking butt as a defensive coordinator, so good for him.

So honestly, they just need to move on and hope that at some point a coach gels. That they have the right connection with the players on the roster. That the right coaches pick up the phone and the wrong ones miss the call when he's assembling his staff. I know there's a lot more to it, but for once I just want them to find the right guy in the right place at the right time.

Just one in my lifetime. That's all.

Thank you for this rundown. I don't really disagree with any of it. Y'know, after 60 years of this stuff, and nothing to show for it, I think I may have had it.

There's a bar downtown where they have a team picture of the 1957 championship team. I have a picture of my late father sitting in front of it a few years ago after yet another crushing playoff eliminating loss. I also still have the program from that championship game that he and my mother attended all those years ago at Briggs Stadium.

I used to cry every time I looked at that photo. My dad literally spent every year after '57 waiting for the inevitable moment that the Lions would win again. Well, he made it all the way to 91 in 2017, but no dice. Nothing at all. And my family is hardly the only ones. The Fords have let down thousands and thousands of faithful fans throughout Michigan for decade after decade now. Untold millions of dollars spent, coaches and players shuffled in and out, and huge number of fans disappointed for so many years, and still nothing to show for it. Not even close. I may just finally be done now.

[Tig3rzhark]

We have the power to fix this mess!! Boycott the game tomorrow!! We must stop enabling losers!!


We have lost so much and are tired of losing!!


Detroit, if you don't want to lose anymore, say so with your money, your tv, your clothing!!


Say no to the lions culture of mediocrity!!


Just say no!!!


And mean it!!!


You can do it!!!


Do it now!!!

[rickbak]

We have the power to fix this mess!! Boycott the game tomorrow!! We must stop enabling losers!!


We have lost so much and are tired of losing!!


Detroit, if you don't want to lose anymore, say so with your money, your tv, your clothing!!


Say no to the lions culture of mediocrity!!


Just say no!!!


And mean it!!!


You can do it!!!


Do it now!!!

You left out pissing on Russ Thomas's grave and TP'ing Mrs. Ford's mansion.

[Smirnoff]

Week#11 Tight End Fact: Lions 1st-round wasted draft pick TJ Hockenbush-league is currently ranked 27th among his peers.....any guess on who will be the new rookie GM?

[Tig3rzhark]

What happened to Colin Kapernick? You think the Lions would take in a new quarterback to replace their injured one?

[softailrider]

Week#11 Tight End Fact: Lions 1st-round wasted draft pick TJ Hockenbush-league is currently ranked 27th among his peers.....any guess on who will be the new rookie GM?

He dropped that pass in the end zone which would have won that game against the Packers, then the season seemed to go downhill for him after that.

[Danny]

What happened to Colin Kapernick? You think the Lions would take in a new quarterback to replace their injured one?

We are not getting Kaepernick! His last NFL training test was a publicity circus! At a High School football field practicing for a Pop Warner Football team.

[rickbak]

We are not getting Kaepernick! His last NFL training test was a publicity circus! At a High School football field practicing for a Pop Warner Football team.

Milt Plum is still available. Just say the word and the nursing home will put him on a bus to Detroit.....

[Pat001]

I miss Matt Millen.

Wayne Fontes – he’s tanned, rested and ready!

[Smirnoff]

Wife went to a "pre-Black Friday" sale this evening [[X-gvg), 1st thing thru the door [[LOL):

[401don]

Wife went to a "pre-Black Friday" sale this evening [[X-gvg), 1st thing thru the door [[LOL):

That's great! Pretty soon Thanksgiving will be known as Black Thursday.
On the bright side the Lions are excited about that no. 1 pick - already narrowed it down to a wide receiver or tight end.

[401don]

Wayne Fontes – he’s tanned, rested and ready!

No way would Wayne come back. He's making too much on Workman's Comp.

[EastsideAl]

Pretty nice game by the kid Blough. Kind of begs the question of why they played Driskel over these past few weeks, since Blough easily outplayed him.

Anyway, it certainly wasn't Blough's fault that the Lions lost. One of the main reasons they did lose though is that the Lions continue to refuse to blitz on defense, allowing opposing qbs to to pick them apart under little or no pressure late in games. While the Bears did blitz, which paid off with a couple of key sacks late.

What in the living hell do Patricia and Pasqualoni have against putting meaningful pressure on the opposing quarterback, or at least just keeping him a bit uncertain and guessing, and not letting him stand back there looking for the open man for as long as he feels like it?

[Seven&wyo]

Pretty nice game by the kid Blough. Kind of begs the question of why they played Driskel over these past few weeks, since Blough easily outplayed him.

Anyway, it certainly wasn't Blough's fault that the Lions lost. One of the main reasons they did lose though is that the Lions continue to refuse to blitz on defense, allowing opposing qbs to to pick them apart under little or no pressure late in games. While the Bears did blitz, which paid off with a couple of key sacks late.

What in the living hell do Patricia and Pasqualoni have against putting meaningful pressure on the opposing quarterback, or at least just keeping him a bit uncertain and guessing, and not letting him stand back there looking for the open man for as long as he feels like it?

MP is a defensive genius we just don't understand his methods. 4-D chess, man. Here we come Super Bowl

[Danny]

Same ole' putty tats Bad News Lions still can't tame the Bad News Bears 24-20. 3-8-1 Twelve down, four to go. Losing games since 1991.

[p1acebo]

Does anyone really think Bob and Patricia are getting fired after this year? My understanding is both their contracts end next year, and they could easily blame the failed season on an injured Stafford and Johnson. It'll be another wasted year with them at the helm.

[Bong-Man]

Does anyone really think Bob and Patricia are getting fired after this year? My understanding is both their contracts end next year, and they could easily blame the failed season on an injured Stafford and Johnson. It'll be another wasted year with them at the helm.

Both are signed through the 2022 season.

[sirrealone]

Both are signed through the 2022 season.

God help us all.

[Smirnoff]

USA Today 12-games played report card:
Detroit Lions

Matt Patricia is on the hot seat as the Lions find ways to lose week after week despite being in the lead. The team can't close anything except the book on another meek season. Can't blame everything on the absence of Matt Stafford. It doesn't appear as if he would have made a difference for this team. Grade: D-minus

[sirrealone]

I think this season is luck circling back on the 2014 season. That was the year that they were behind in a bunch of their games and completed, what, at least 5 or 6 4th-quarter comebacks. Wasn't Stafford called the Comeback Kid after that year?

It was sort of the opposite of this year. Over time, things have a way of evening themselves out.

[softailrider]

Tank the rest of the season for draft picks. Heard this before many times - how has it worked out over the course of the last 62 years?

[Smirnoff]

Nice shirt - real nice!

[Smirnoff]

Week#14 NFL Power Rankings:

30. Detroit Lions

At some point in the season -- let's clock it around late September -- the Lions lost any ability to close out games. Detroit has lost eight of nine, but the free-fall wouldn't have been so pronounced had the Lions handled their business. We saw that again on Thanksgiving, when a 17-7 second-quarter lead became a 24-20 loss to the Bears. At least the Lions have a feel-good story in David Blough, whose first career completion was a 75-yard touchdown to Kenny Golladay. The third-string QB led the Lions to another touchdown on their second possession and threw for 280 yards against a top defense. We'll see more of the undrafted rookie, too: The Lions moved Jeff Driskel to injured reserve on Saturday with a hamstring injury. With Driskel done and Matthew Stafford [[back) in limbo, you Bloughhards out there are in for a treat.

[401don]

I can watch the other sports when there's no hope for the playoffs but not football. You can still look at how younger players are developing for the future in other sports but with the NFL, with half the roster turning over every 2 years, it's playoffs or bust. It's also the reason you should be able to turn things around pretty quickly. Buffalo was a total joke 2 years ago. I guess it applies to everyone but the Lions.