The Cleveland Browns were far and away the most disappointing team in the NFL this season, a fashionable preseason Super Bowl pick that turned out to be a six-win mess.

The Detroit Lions might have been second.

The Lions didn’t have the same preseason buzz as the Browns, but when they started 2-0-1 and took the Kansas City Chiefs to the wire in a Week 4 loss, they made believers out of a lot of people.

They followed the Kansas City game with a controversial loss to the Green Bay Packers, then followed that by looking overmatched against the Minnesota Vikings. Their supposedly vaunted defense never materialized, and when Matthew Stafford got hurt in the waning minutes of a Week 9 loss to the Oakland Raiders, it was curtains on the season.

The Lions finished a disappointing 3-12-1 and in last place in the NFC North. They lost nine straight games to end the year, finished with 16 players on injured reserve and saw attendance decline for the second straight year.

Things got so bad that ownership even took the unusual step of meeting with beat reporters to explain why it was giving Matt Patricia and Bob Quinn one more season to turn things around.

Patricia acknowledged in his season-ending news conference Monday that “we’re all disappointed in the season.”

“It’s definitely not how we wanted it to go,” he said.

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And while he and Quinn tried their best to spin their dozen defeats, most of them by a touchdown or less, into something positive – the Lions held leads in 14 games! – the truth is this season will go down as one of the worst in franchise history.

Since their founding in Portsmouth, Ohio, in 1930, the Lions have lost more games in a season just six times.

That unfortunate mark is reflected in our annual end-of-season grades. There were good things that happened, to be sure. Stafford played well when healthy, Kenny Golladay led the NFL in touchdown catches and Matt Prater moved into second place all-time in 50-yard field goals made.

But they were all overshadowed by the massive disappointment of the season.

Quarterback

I gave Stafford an A-minus in my midseason grades, and he didn’t play a game in the second half of the season, so this final grade is as much a reflection of backups Jeff Driskel and David Blough as anything.

Stafford played at a Pro Bowl level when he was on the field. He led the league in passing yards per game (312.4) and was on pace to throw for his most yards and touchdowns since his record-setting season of 2011 at the time of his injury. He wasn’t perfect, throwing two interceptions in a Week 2 win over the Los Angeles Chargers, and the offense went quiet a couple times under his watch. But he rediscovered his deep passing stroke and generally seemed at ease in Darrell Bevell’s offense.

Both Driskel and Blough made their first starts under tough circumstances. Driskel impressed with his dual-threat ability, but he also threw three interceptions (and should have thrown a fourth) and took six sacks in a winnable game at Washington. Blough finished the season with four touchdowns and six interceptions, didn’t see the field particularly well, and completed just 54% of the passes in the five games he played. There’s no grading on a curve when you’re starting games in the NFL.

Grade: C

Running backs

Kerryon Johnson led the Lions with 403 yards rushing, just the third time since Barry Sanders’ retirement that the team leader in rushing failed to reach 500 yards. Johnson missed eight games with a knee injury and deserves a tip of the cap for returning to play the final two weeks. But he averaged just 3.3 yards per carry before his injury and had one run longer than 14 yards on the season.

C.J. Anderson was supposed to play as a complement to Johnson, but he lasted two games before he got cut. Rookie sixth-round pick Ty Johnson never quite developed as the Lions hoped after a strong preseason, and early-season waiver claim J.D. McKissic had a minimal impact.

Give the Lions pro personnel department credit, though, for finding Bo Scarbrough. Scarbrough played six games late in the season and averaged 4.2 yards per carry. He narrowly missed 100 yards rushing against Washington, carrying 18 times for 98 yards, but he and Kerryon Johnson showed promise as a tandem in the backfield. The Lions did convert both of their fourth-and-1 rushing attempts this season, and 13 of 19 third-and-1 tries. Johnson had the only 100-yard rushing performance, when he helped give the Lions a puncher’s chance in a Week 4 loss to the Kansas City Chiefs.

Grade: C-minus

Wide receivers/tight ends

They weren’t Herman Moore, Brett Perriman and Johnnie Morton, but the Lions’ receiving trio of Golladay, Marvin Jones and Danny Amendola were pretty good this season. Golladay, Jones and Amendola became the first trio of Lions receivers to post at least 60 catches and 675 yards in the same year in franchise history.

Golladay had an NFL-best 11 touchdown catches and led the Lions in receptions (65) and yards (1,190). He’s a budding star, and he showed improvement as a route runner this season. Jones was on his way to career-bests in most categories before a late-season ankle injury sent him to injured reserve. Amendola had his most yards since 2010, and made an important impact in the locker room with his tireless work ethic. Give Marvin Hall a nod, too, as he showed promise as a deep threat before his season ended in November with a foot injury.

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The Lions’ tight ends weren’t nearly as a productive and will go down as a disappointment considering the investment the team made last spring. Jesse James had 16 catches, hardly what anyone expected when he signed as a Day 1 free agent. First-round pick T.J. Hockenson had a record-setting 131-yard debut, then two quiet months before he went on injured reserve. And while Logan Thomas was a solid No. 3, both he and Hockenson dropped would-be touchdown passes that contributed to Lions defeats.

Grade: B-minus

Offensive line

The Lions allowed 43 sacks this season, which is what they averaged in 2017-18, but looking beyond the numbers they were much improved in pass protection. I assigned all or part of the blame on just 24 of those sacks to an offensive lineman. As a run-blocking unit, the Lions got good play from their interior line late in the season but were inconsistent overall.

Frank Ragnow was the Lions’ best offensive lineman this year after making the move from left guard to center. He had a handful of hiccups, both in setting protections and in the sack he allowed to Dalvin Tomlinson. But it’s not hard to imagine him as a Pro Bowler down the road. Left tackle Taylor Decker had an incredibly rough opener against the Arizona Cardinals, when he allowed two sacks and drew four penalties. He missed the next game with a back injury, but settled down soon after and finished on a high note apart from sacks allowed to Robert Quinn and Shaq Barrett. Right tackle Rick Wagner allowed 6.5 sacks according to my charting and continues to struggle against good pass rushers.

The Lions defied conventional wisdom by rotating guards for most the season. That nonsensical approach took one of their three best linemen, Graham Glasgow, off the field for two series or so a game. Glasgow showed up with some nice blocks in the run game in the second half of the season. Left guard Joe Dahl was average in his first go-round as a starter before he went on injured reserve, while backups Kenny Wiggins and Tyrell Crosby were less consistent but generally serviceable.

Grade: C-plus

[ Glasgow: 'I'd like to kind of feel like I'm wanted' ]

Defensive line

The reason most forecasted big things for the Lions’ defense this year was because of a line that seemed both deep and talented. And the reason the Lions finished with one of the worst defenses in the NFL is because that line severely underachieved.

Flowers got off to a slow start coming back from February shoulder surgery, but he was far and away the Lions’ best defensive player this year. He had seven sacks, including six in a six-game span in late October through early December, and was the team’s best run defender. He was knocked to the ground by a double-team block on the key fourth-and-8 scramble by Patrick Mahomes scramble that essentially cost the Lions the Chiefs game, and he was called for two costly but questionable penalties in the first Packers meeting.

Damon Harrison, the Lions’ best defensive linemen in 2018, had a disappointing season. He got off to a slow start after skipping offseason workouts and battled injuries much of the season that were debilitating enough that he’s now considering retirement. He had 49 tackles in 15 games this season, about what he had in 10 games last year, with far fewer impact plays.

Apart from the Lions’ big two, most of the rest of the defensive line was invisible. Romeo Okwara had 1.5 forgettable sacks, Da’Shawn Hand was hurt most of the year, Mike Daniels barely played because of foot and arm injuries, though he was solid the little he was on the field. And A’Shawn Robinson flashed with seven-tackle games against the Vikings and Packers but was mostly quiet otherwise.

Grade: D

Linebackers

The Lions were atrocious against the run in the first half of the season, when they gave up an average of nearly 136 yards per game. They plugged a few of their leaks in November, holding four opponents under 90 yards for four straight games, but the linebacking unit shares blame with the defensive line for the Lions’ overall struggles against the run.

Jarrad Davis was Pro Football Focus’ last-ranked linebacker in the first half of the season, but he got better as the season wore on before a high ankle sprain eventually sent him to injured reserve. Davis finished with a career-low 63 tackles and never could replicate the pass-rushing success he had in 2018. He played his best game in late October against the New York Giants, when he had a sack and forced a fumble that Devon Kennard returned for a touchdown.

Kennard tied for the team lead with seven sacks, but three of those came in the opener and he was a non-factor as a pass rusher most of the rest of the season. Jahlani Tavai played well in Davis’ absence early in the year, but he and Christian Jones joined Davis on injured reserve with shoulder injuries. Tavai did make a couple memorable plays before he got hurt, picking off a Jameis Winston pass in December and forcing a goal-line fumble against the Los Angeles Chargers in Week 2. None of the Lions’ linebackers was particularly effective in pass coverage.

Grade: D

Defensive backs

The Lions finished last in the NFL in pass defense at 284.4 yards per game allowed, but the secondary wasn’t helped at all by league’s second-worst sack rate or Quinn’s decision to trade starting safety Quandre Diggs to the Seattle Seahawks.

Darius Slay was selected for his third straight Pro Bowl, and while he was clearly the Lions’ best cornerback, he wasn't quite his lockdown self this season. Slay struggled for three quarters against Keenan Allen, though he did have a game-sealing interception late, and he had fits with Washington rookie Terry McLaurin and Minnesota’s Stefon Diggs at times. Slay never caught a break as he routinely checked the opposing team’s No. 1 receiver, and he played through ankle and hamstring injuries. Coleman impressed out of the gates and finished well, but players like Golden Tate and Hunter Renfrow got the better of him. He was adept at punching loose fumbles. Rookie Amani Oruwariye was probably the Lions’ second-best corner, though he spent most of the season behind the inconsistent Rashaan Melvin.

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The Lions traded Diggs in part because they felt his play had regressed from last year’s Pro Bowl-alternate season. He missed too many tackles early in the year, but his absence left a void in the secondary as Tracy Walker was in and out of the lineup in November with a knee injury. Walker had a nice season overall. He made a team-high 103 tackles, had eight pass deflections and was a key part of the Lions’ success against tight ends Zach Ertz and Evan Engram. Tavon Wilson played primarily as a box safety, and had his best season as a Lion with 98 tackles. Will Harris let a few too many balls get over his head, but played his best game of the season in Week 17.

Grade: C-minus

Special teams

Patricia fired his second special-teams coordinator in as many seasons earlier this week, but the Lions actually fared well in Football Outsiders’ composite special-teams rankings, checking in at No. 8 overall. Some of that was due to Prater’s kicking prowess – he made 7 of 8 field goals of 50-plus yards – but the Lions also had one of the best punt-coverage units in the NFL and Jamal Agnew scored a pair of return touchdowns.

Agnew’s season got off to a rough start, when he muffed a punt against the Cardinals. The Lions had nine special-teams penalties in their first two games and allowed a punt block in the opener, and they got beat on a fake punt against the Oakland Raiders. Punter Sam Martin had his best net-punting average (41.8 yards) since 2016, and when an abdominal injury took him temporarily off kickoff duties, the Lions missed his proficiency in that area.

Overall, the Lions were very up and down on special teams, looking very good some weeks and below average others. Jalen Reeves-Maybin, Miles Killebrew and C.J. Moore were the Lions’ top coverage specialists, and Jason Cabinda showed promise in the role after a late-season promotion from practice squad.

Grade: C-plus

Coaching

The Lions championed the fact that they were in games all season – they had a lead in 14 of the 16 they played – as a sign of progress. In my eyes, though, their inability to close out games reflects poorly on the coaching staff. Nearly every week the Lions got off to a fast start only to peter out on offense, go belly-up on defense or both.

Patricia, to be fair, showed some growth in his second season as coach. He eliminated most of the off-field distractions that held the Lions back in 2018, put together good game plans against teams like Chiefs and Packers, and handled the controversial loss in Green Bay well. But his inability to fix the defense, his specialty, is a head-scratcher, and the fact that the Lions only won three games this season is completely inexcusable even with Stafford’s injury.

Offensive coordinator Darrell Bevell gets kudos for reinvigorating the deep passing game and being creative with his opening-game scripts. He beat the Packers for an opening-play flea flicker in Green Bay and drew up an even better-looking version of the play against the Giants. He did get too conservative at times, like when he went to his four-minute offense too early against Arizona, and whoever ordered the timeout against the Cardinals cost the Lions a win. But I thought Bevell did a commendable job tailoring his offense to his quarterbacks’ strengths.

Ultimately, though, this grade is about the entire staff, and when you fire six assistants and finish with the third-worst record in the league, the bad far outweighs the good.

Grade: D-minus

Contact Dave Birkett at dbirkett@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @davebirkett. Read more on the Detroit Lions and sign up for our Lions newsletter.