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Rough nights appear less rough the next morning. Viewed with a little distance. Perhaps a bit of sleep.
Unless you’re a Detroit Lions fan waking up after the worst head-coaching debut in modern franchise history, and the reality looks even worse.
What happened Monday night at Ford Field wasn’t as embarrassing as it was revealing: Matt Patricia is in over his head.
Maybe that changes as the season moves forward. Maybe it doesn’t.
But this wasn’t just a team that made a few mistakes in its home opener. This was a team that didn’t look like … a team.
The Lions looked confused, unprepared and, at times, disconnected from their coach, who spent most of the night on the sidelines by himself. Now, Patricia doesn’t owe his players shoulder rubs and attaboys during a game.
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Yet it’s worth noting that the endearing, affectionate coordinator you saw hugging the sidelines in New England got lost on the way to Detroit. His new persona appears stiffer and uncomfortable, and that’s understandable. He’s the man here.
The question is: Is he the right man?
Normally, after a single game, that’s a laughable question. Absurd, really. Perspective is a sportswriter’s best friend.
But nothing seemed normal about Monday night. Something was off.
From the ease with which the Jets' defense sniffed out the Lions' playbook to the discordant symphony of Patricia's own defense: the Lions played like amateurs.
The same Lions, I'll remind you, who missed the playoffs last year by a game.
No, this isn't a Super Bowl roster. But it's good enough to compete with a rookie quarterback at home.
That it couldn't is not just strange; it's unsettling, which is saying something considering these are the Lions.
All of which should make you wonder: How much of Patricia’s resume was padded by Bill Belichick and Tom Brady's reality show?
And how much will Patricia be able to transfer from New England to Detroit?
Because so far, he has brought nothing.
There’s a reason that of the five New England assistants who’ve left for head coaching jobs before Patricia, only one has found (mild) success outside the comfort of Gillette Stadium. We just don’t know what that reason is.
It’s possible that Charlie Weis (as a college coach) and Romeo Crennel and Josh McDaniels and Eric Mangini all took jobs with hidden, intractable problems that prevented them from winning.
It’s more likely that all four were good at implementing Belichick’s vision while under him but not once they were out on their own.
The fifth assistant, Bill O’Brien, is still coaching in Houston, where his Texans have made the playoffs twice as a wildcard.
The one former assistant who has replicated Belichick’s success is Alabama’s Nick Saban. Though he, too, struggled when he led an NFL team.
When Patricia was hired last winter, it was easy to gloss over the listing Belichick coaching tree. Patricia was seen as a savant, a player’s coach, the burly, charismatic type with a talent for math and improv.
He seemed different. And, once he was hired, deserved the chance to disassociate himself from the failures of the Belichick coaching tree.
Then Monday night happened.
And the implosion against the Jets turned out to be a continuation of everything that went wrong in the preseason. Where each week we saw more evidence that Patricia wasn’t connecting with the team.
It wasn’t just that Patricia pushed his players — he isn’t the only coach who stops practice and makes his team run sprints. Nor was it just the complicated defensive schemes he was — and is — trying to teach.
It's the way he teaches. The way he communicates.
To his credit, Patricia communicated clearly after the loss.
“Obviously we have to coach this a lot better,” he said, “... it starts with me.”
This was, after all, a nine-win team he inherited. A team Bob Quinn said underachieved.
The Lions' general manager set that standard when he fired Jim Caldwell. A standard Patricia must now meet.
When Caldwell arrived in Detroit he inherited a seven-win team and a quarterback, Matthew Stafford, who was still more potential than result. The former Lions' coach helped push Stafford to the best stretch of his career.
That success helped Caldwell win his first game and helped the Lions to the playoffs in his first year — they won 11 games.
So, it can be done.
Though after Monday night, I'm doubtful Patricia can do it, too.
If he meant what he said during his postgame press conference that the problem lies within, that's a start. He must reassess everything, including his approach.
Do that, and he'll get time to install his vision. Whether that's a vision worth installing is the question.
The franchise's worst debut in modern franchise history demands it.
Contact Shawn Windsor: 313-222-6487 or swindsor@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @shawnwindsor.
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