If you smelled a hint of shit in the air this morning on your way to work and are wondering where the hell it’s coming from, look no further than Ford Field in downtown Detroit. Specifically though, you’d be hard pressed to miss the heaping pile on the sidelines where the Lions coaching staff completely shit themselves during last night’s embarrassing 48-17 loss to the New York Jets on Monday Night Football.
And that may be putting it lightly.
That’s because every facet of last night’s disaster can be directly attributed to Matt Patricia and his staff. And if you aren’t convinced of that, have a look at what Jets players were telling Yahoo’s Dan Wetzel in the immediate aftermath of Sam Darnold and Todd Bowles playing the brown noise that apparently only the Lions coaching staff could hear.
Via Yahoo Sports:
Third-and-short, and the Jets said they knew the play would be a short pass to Riddick coming out of the backfield, with wideout Golden Tate running a rub route/pick on the linebacker – in this case, Darron Lee – to create space for Riddick.
The Jets had watched film and practiced against it all week. Lee had become adept at slipping the pick and jumping the route, but he kept dropping potential interceptions, arriving a fraction of a second too late. As he saw the formation, he vowed this would be different. So, too, did safety Jamal Adams who began shouting at Lee in case he was unaware of the play the Lions were about to run.
“I told him, ‘Here it comes,’ ” Adams said.
Lee, however, didn’t need reminding. This was too obvious. As the play unfolded, Lee first identified Tate and jumped to avoid him. He then ran directly to the spot in front of Riddick where he thought Stafford would throw. As he arrived, so did the ball.
This time Lee secured the interception and turned the other way, racing 36 yards for a pick-six. Adams trailed him all the way, screaming in delight. As they crossed into the end zone, he tried to tackle his teammate only to crash into the padded wall.
Afterward they sat in the Ford Field visitor’s locker room and smiled and laughed and celebrated.
New York 48, Detroit 17.
But we’re not going to let others off the hook. For instance Matthew Stafford let a rookie in Darnold come into Ford Field, bend him over and completely have his way with him when it comes to end of the night comparisons. The Jets’ first pick this past spring shook off some early game jitters (a pick-six to Quandre Diggs on his first pass) to go 16/21 for 198 yards and two touchdowns. For Stafford, he put up the passing yardage which he normally does at 286 yards but was just 27/47 with a touchdown and FOUR interceptions.
I mean Matt, you’re a veteran QB who’s seen plenty of defensive sets. Call some audibles and attempt to throw off a scheme right from the line of scrimmage. And if that’s not working get together with the head coach and rectify the problem during halftime because the Lions sure as hell weren’t putting up any kind of offensive clinic the first half that would make you think otherwise.
But perhaps Stafford and the Lions did just that which could most certainly be the case. And if so the Lions have bigger problems on their staff because frankly if the Jets can do what they did, every single team on the Lions’ schedule can probably replicate just that.
Otherwise, 3-of-13 on third down isn’t going to get it done. 39 rushing yards isn’t going to get it done. Zero-for-two in red zone efficiency isn’t going to get it done. Five interceptions from your quarterbacks isn’t going to get it done. And opposing players mocking you because they knew which plays you were going to run before you ran them definitely isn’t going to get it done.
Hopefully the Lions are in for a long-week of practice in this short week because things can get worse this season as fans are all to use to.
