ALLEN PARK -- Matt Patricia and Bob Quinn will return to the Detroit Lions in 2020.

The Ford family made the decision this week, with their team amid an NFL-worst seven-game losing streak that has torpedoed their once-promising season. They hired Matt Patricia last year to take them over the top after a pair of 9-7 seasons, and instead have already clinched last place in the NFC North for a second straight season.

Patricia is now 9-20-1 in Detroit, the third-worst winning percentage by any Lions coach since the 1980s, and public pressure has mounted about the future of this regime. But the Fords decided this week to retain both Quinn and Patricia, and informed them during a 10 a.m. meeting on Tuesday at team headquarters in Allen Park.

There will still be some meaningful changes after the season, including to Patricia’s staff. And expectations are clear for 2020.

“We expect to be a playoff contender (next year)," owner Martha Firestone Ford said during a chat with a small group of beat reporters on Tuesday afternoon. "Those are our expectations, which we’ve expressed to both Bob and to Matt.”

Ford was joined by her daughter, Sheila Ford Hamp -- one of the team’s four vice chairpersons -- and president Rod Wood for a 35-minute chat explaining the decision. The meeting, which occurred in Wood’s Allen Park office, was mostly on background to explain ownership’s thinking, although all three power brokers agreed to be quoted selectively about the decision.

Ownership has been mulling the future of Patricia and Quinn since about Thanksgiving. They know their decision to bring both back will be unpopular with many fans, given the struggles of the last two seasons. But they believe Patricia showed progress this season, on both personal and organizational levels. They were heartened by the 2-0-1 start to the season, then taking both Kansas City and Green Bay to the brink before injuries began to set in.

The Fords said they understand injuries are a part of the game, but believe this season has been unusual -- Detroit finished Sunday’s loss against Tampa Bay without 21 players because of health issues -- and pointed specifically to the Matthew Stafford injury. The quarterback started 136 straight games before suffering a back issue in Oakland. The Lions are 0-6 without him.

Ownership understands Patricia made some mistakes as a first-time coach, but are encouraged by the progress they’ve seen from him in Year 2. They believe a foundation has been laid, and seeing that process through rather than starting all over once again was the best path forward.

In short, they understand the calls for heads to roll. They go to the games too, and they see the losses stacking up. They’re frustrated like everybody else. But they believe there are mitigating factors, most notably the injuries, and that wholesale changes would disrupt the progress already made. So they are sticking with the process, opting for more minor changes to staffing and the roster instead.

“(Firing Patricia) would have been the popular choice, the popular decision, and we knew that," Sheila Ford Hamp said. "But as I say, we’re doing what is right for the organization.”

While the Lions are staying the course with Quinn and Patricia, they are mandating staffing changes. The Fords did not single out any specific assistant who is out, although defensive coordinator Paul Pasqualoni has come under the most scrutiny because of the downfall of the defense. It ranks 26th in total yards allowed, and is just 844 yards from matching the franchise record from 2008 with two games still to go.