Dear Martha Ford: Fix the Detroit Lions or sell the team

Jeff Seidel | Detroit Free Press

Show Caption Hide Caption Detroit Lions sloppy again. That falls on Matt Patricia & the coaches Lions are sloppy again, the defense stinks and that falls on Matt Patricia and the coaching staff after 35-27 loss to Cowboys, Nov. 17, 2019.

Dear Martha Firestone Ford:

This isn’t acceptable.

Your Detroit Lions, the organization that makes you a boatload of cash every year — sucking money out of the pockets of decent, hard workin’ folks who deserve better — are struggling something awful.

Just like always.

Your team has lost six of its past seven games, all hope is gone and the season is all but over. This isn't acceptable.

To this point, coach Matt Patricia has been, eh — I want to be kind here and not use any naughty language — a complete disappointment. He is supposedly a defensive genius, and his defense is pathetic. It gave up 509 yards on Sunday in a 35-27 loss to the Dallas Cowboys. The Lions are middling through a 3-6-1 season, pointed toward a familiar mediocrity, if not worse.

[ Lions grades: Ugly performance for defense, coaching vs. Cowboys ]

Patricia has won a grand total of nine games in 26 tries, and his excuses have grown tiresome.

He says things like: “We have to be more consistent.” But the Lions couldn’t be more consistent. All they do is lose close games, in a league that is designed for parity. What can make a difference in a close game? Oh, that’s right: it’s coaching.

Patricia says: “In the end, the Cowboys made more plays than we did. That’s a good team. They have a lot of talented players over there.” And that’s a subtle way of saying, We don’t have enough playmakers. Who put this Lions team together? None other than general manager Bob Quinn, who has built a team that can’t defend, can’t run the ball, can't stop the pass and can’t stop anybody from getting into the end zone.

How can you have any faith in Quinn and Patricia? What makes you think they are going to turn it around? Normally, I’m all for giving a new regime all kinds of time to find its footing. But this isn’t a new front office.

THIS IS YEAR 4 FOR BOB QUINN!

Whoops. Sorry about raising my voice. I’m trying to stay calm.

After four years on the job, Quinn has a 27-30-1 record.

Now, remember how we got here: Quinn, the boy wonder from the New England Patriots, hired Patricia, the boy wonder with the pencil, to replace Jim Caldwell.

Because 9-7 wasn’t good enough.

Remember: Caldwell took his team to the playoffs in two of his four seasons. He had winning records in three of four seasons. But Quinn fired him. Because 9-7 wasn’t good enough.

Patricia promptly took the team backward in 2018 and finished with a 6-10 record.

And now?

Patricia’s butt should be placed firmly on the hot seat, and it should be sizzling. Right alongside Quinn.

Quinn shouldn’t be granted more time to succeed after bringing in his buddy from New England. He doesn’t get an extended honeymoon period. If we don’t see significant improvement over the rest of the season, they should be gone.

Now, Martha, I know there were all kinds of cheers in Ford Field on Sunday.

But those weren’t Lions fans chanting: “Let’s Go Cowboys!” as Dak Prescott put on a show. He threw for 444 yards and three touchdowns.

And those Cowboys fans screamed in joy, as Ezekiel Elliott made a ridiculous catch, which he turned into a ridiculous touchdown: “Let’s Go Cowboys!”

Stunning? Sure.

The Lions have one of the worst defenses in the league.

The Lions lost at Oakland after this coaching staff decided to take their best two players off the field on fourth down. Don’t talk to me about the refs in Green Bay, or nearly beating Kansas City, or the drama of being close at the end of several games.

Or even the fact that Matthew Stafford has missed the past two games. This team couldn’t win when Stafford was playing well. And it can’t win without him. That's on Quinn and Patricia, too.

The Lions’ defense came into this game ranked 24th in points (26.3), 30th in total yards (402.1), 28th in passing yards (272.4) and 27th in rushing yards (129.7). That’s horrendous for a team being coached by a defensive genius.

That’s not because of Stafford’s injury. That’s on Quinn and the team he has put together.

In general terms, I hate an endless shuffling of front offices and coaches. Normally, I think a coach deserves three years to get his guys in place and implement his system.

But what has Patricia done to give you any hope that things will change? At some point, going with a coach who is better at losing than winning doesn’t make sense.

What makes you think things will be better next season? Just because these games have been close? There are no moral victories in the NFL.

Sure, Martha, you can keep them and cling to hope that things will change. But at this point, I don’t have any trust that Patricia is the right guy.

For years, I’ve heard fans blame Lions ownership for the failures. And I’ve never bought it. But I’m starting to come around to that line of thinking. The owner sets the tone. The owner makes the mandate for the entire organization. The owner has to make sure the right people are running the show. The owner has to make sure that mediocrity is not acceptable.

So it’s on you, Martha. Give the fans some hope that things, one day, might change.

Draw a line in the turf. Demand improvement. And fire these guys if you don't see serious improvement soon. Which means beating Washington next week isn't enough.

If you can't do that?

Sell the freakin’ team.

Contact Jeff Seidel: jseidel@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @seideljeff. To read his recent columns, go to freep.com/sports/jeff-seidel.