In 2020 the Detroit Lions were cruising directly into the gates of hell. Then right after they crashed through them, the Lions fired Matt Patricia and Bob Quinn and began the rebuild that they’re on right now. Yet, here we are. The Lions are on the doorstep to making the playoffs for the first time since 2016 and the one thing that stands in the way of that happening this week is the man who piloted the plane to hell. None other than Matt Patricia.
It’s funny because I once compared Matt Patricia to Thanos. The idea being that he came into Detroit with a roster that was ready to contend and just needed to get to the next level. He then snapped his fingers and half that roster disappeared and along with it went all of the Lions chances to do anything. He truly buried this team deep. It’s amazing that they got out of it as fast as they did.
Three years after I wrote that article about Matt Patricia being Thanos, the Eagles hired him to be a part of their defensive staff. Interestingly enough he would have to work with Darius Slay again. The player he very publicly had a beef with in Detroit.
Due to the Eagles defense being one of the worst in the league this season, they have decided to promote Matt Patricia to defensive play caller. They’re keeping Sean Desai as their coordinator, but Patricia will call the plays.
So here we are. You can dread him, run from him. Matt Patricia arrives all the same. He stands in the Lions way of making the playoffs once again. This time he can actually help the Lions get there though. If the Eagles win on Monday night, the Lions clinch the playoffs and then Spider-Man and Black Panther get to come back from the blip. Maybe that means Darius Slay will return to the Lions or something.
The Lions, of course, have other methods of clinching, but this is the last one this week. We’ll see what happens. Maybe the guy with “one of the best calls in Super Bowl history” will forget that he coached one of the worst defenses in NFL history and draw up some plays to help the Eagles pretty bad defense. We’ll see.
Believe it or not, Matt Patricia being bad at his job this week could help the Lions too. If the Seahawks beat the Eagles, then that could help the Lions when it comes to seeding. They’re not out of the first seed picture yet. They’re not out of the second seed either for that matter. So if Patricia fails again, the Lions could actually benefit from it. They’ll just have to push their clinching scenarios down the road for a week.