Matt Patricia continues to cost the Lions, prevents DET from clinching playoff spot

Matt Patricia is the leach that keeps sucking the joy out of the city of Detroit.

On Monday night, Detroit Lions fans watched the Eagles battle the Seahawks in hopes that a Philadelphia victory would clinch Detroit a playoff spot.

And it certainly looked like things were on track late in the fourth quarter with Philly leading 17-13 with the clock winding down. Then they let Drew Lock lead the Seahawks on a 10-play, 92-yard drive with no timeouts to score the game-winning touchdown with 28 seconds remaining.

The guy calling the defense that allowed that to happen? Former Lions head coach Matt Patricia.

Lions knew they couldn't depend on Matt Patricia

The Lions haven't been to the playoffs since 2016 under Jim Caldwell. Patricia replaced Caldwell in 2018 and proceeded to finish fourh in the NFC North in each of his three seasons in charge. He was fired in 2020.

Patricia went back to work with the Patriots in 2021, serving as an offensive play caller in 2022 with disastrous results. He was hired by the Eagles ahead of the 2023 season as a senior defensive assistant. Then, in a desperate bid to jump start the Eagles defense, Nick Sirianni tapped Patricia as the team's defensive playcaller, taking those duties away from defensive coordinator Sean Desai.

It turns out Patricia was just as bad calling plays on defense for the Eagles as he was calling plays on offense for the Patriots.

The end result is the Lions having to wait to lock in a playoff appearance. They come out of Week 15 in possession of the No. 3 seed in the NFC with a 10-4 record, tied with the Cowboys.

Detroit will just have to get the job done themselves. A win over the Vikings in Week 16 will not only lock in a playoff spot, it will clinch the NFC North for the Lions for the first time in franchise history.