10 NFL head coaches under the most pressure in 2020
Detroit Lions. 50. player. Scouting Report. Pick Analysis. . Matt Patricia. 1
Patricia is very fortunate that he didn’t get the axe during the offseason. His Lions team went in the tank after Matthew Stafford’s injury in 2019. Not many coaches who finish with 3-12-1 records get the chance to come back and coach another season.
Clearly, the Lions front office believes the return of Stafford under center will be enough to get Detroit back into playoff contention. The problem with that line of thinking is that the team’s defense continues to lose talent at an alarming rate. Losing Darius Slay is going to cause this bad secondary to take another step back in 2020. Even if Jeff Okudah plays well, he won’t elevate the group as a rookie.
That means Detroit will be required to win shootouts on a weekly basis to stay competitive within their own division. That’s not exactly the strength of a defensive coach like Patricia. If the Lions can’t leverage Stafford’s return into a playoff bid in 2020 then it will be time to find a new head coach.
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In the end, Patricia may end up being the first coach to lose his job this season. That would also make him the latest in a long line of former Patriots’ staff members to struggle after leaving Foxborough. In some ways, Patricia’s failures only strengthen Belichick’s legacy as a coaching genius. That won’t be any comfort to Lions fans who’ve suffered through his ugly tenure in Motown.