Patriots: Matt Patricia’s ridiculous comments prove Pats fans were right all along
By Adam Weinrib
Patriots fans knew it all along, but Matt Patricia has proven to be a terrible head coach in Detroit.
Hotshot coordinator has success in New England. Hotshot coordinator thinks his success somehow supersedes the overall culture in New England instilled by Bill Belichick. Hotshot coordinator leaves for “greener” pastures before learning 10,000 lessons about the complexity of head coaching. Patriots fans have seen this story before.
But with Matt Patricia lighting the NFL abuzz by asserting after Sunday’s Lions loss to the New Orleans Saints, dropping them to 1-3 (again), that we still weren’t at the inflection point in Detroit based on the amount of “work” he had to do when he arrived there, it’s high time we recall just how often his tenure running the defense left Patriots fans shaking their heads.
We could’ve told you so.
Jim Caldwell inherited a mess after Schwartz got fired in 2015 and made the #Lions winners with an 11-5 record in his first year in Detroit. He was 9-7 in each of his last two years before getting fired.
— Dov Kleiman (@NFL_DovKleiman) October 5, 2020
Matt Patricia, in total, has 10-25-1 record in the 3 years combined since! https://t.co/uNhquQbMcI
Yes, that’s the Detroit Lions, a famously downtrodden franchise, which Jim Caldwell brought to relative prosperity, notching an 11-5 season immediately after taking over for Jim Schwartz. Meanwhile, Patricia and his try-hard nature and pencil-on-laminated-paper Belichick impression has notched 10 wins total during his tenure, after inheriting a far better core.
During his time in New England, we saw Patricia develop a reputation for crafting a swarming defense, based mainly on the fact that his signature “look” was easy to circle and pinpoint. A disheveled coordinator rocking a Goodell Clown shirt? What’s not to like? Meanwhile, his defense lived and died by a “bend, don’t break” philosophy that was anything but tenable.
The lack of security in the unit was on full display in the ghastly Super Bowl loss to the Eagles, in which Tom Brady threw for 505 yards and couldn’t out-toss his own defense, which was waltzed over by Nick Foles and surrendered 41 points and 538 yards.
Was there anything Patricia was responsible for that Bill Belichick didn’t also have a firm imprint on? Can he really take credit for the Malcolm Butler play all by his lonesome?
fwiw, caldwell took indy to 14-0 in a year when we thought that run was gonna end. turned joe flacco into a legit super bowl mvp after taking over midseason. best four-year run for the lions most of us remember.
— bomani (@bomani_jones) October 5, 2020
and jim schwartz got more time on that job than he did. https://t.co/wvlPtTPpEK
Of all failed members of the Belichick Coaching Tree, it now seems as if Patricia may have been the least well-equipped for the rigors of being the head man.
Running an NFL team is about a lot more than just Xs and Os, something Patricia didn’t have a phenomenal grasp on during his time with the Patriots, either.
Fans knew it all along. Any trust we had in the defense during that era was due to our knowledge that Bill Belichick could supersede any structural issues.
Without that safety net, Patricia is fumbling yet again.
