In losing to Washington, Detroit Lions coach Matt Patricia gives no reason to keep his job

Jeff Seidel | Detroit Free Press

LANDOVER, Md. — The Detroit Lions have sunk to a new level of unwatchable ineptitude.

They just got beat 19-16 by pathetic, lowly Washington, one of the worst teams in the NFL.

They got beat by a rookie quarterback making his third career start.

This is an indictment of general manager Bob Quinn, who put this mess together.

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

And it’s an indictment on coach Matt Patricia, who has offered no reason why he should be the coach next season.

Or even next week, to tell you the truth.

The Lions have now lost seven of their last eight, including four in a row. Which is the statistical way of saying: Everything is heading straight down the drain.

You want to know the worst part for Lions fans? There is no hope that things are going to get better this season, and I defy you to explain why things might get better next season.

It’s clear that Patricia isn’t making any kind of progress. He’s taking this team straight backward.

This wasn't a fluky loss.

This wasn’t bad officiating.

This wasn’t a goofy play.

This was just plain ugly — an exercise in uneven, undesirable, unwatchable football.

One play summed up everything for the Lions:

In the third quarter, when these two hapless teams were locked in a 13-13 tie — which seemed entirely fitting — Lions punt returner Marvin Hall ran backwards and caught the ball, while going into the end zone.

We pause here, to let Lions fans pull their hair out. I mean, if you have any left after this season.

Of course, Hall could have let the ball go — like a typical football player on any other team — and let it go into the end zone.

But these are the Lions. So he caught it and was tackled at the 2.

I mean, of course he did.

That’s the sign of a well coached team?

That’s how you lose to one of the worst teams in the NFL. That's also how you become one of the worst teams in the NFL.

Because the Lions made mistakes all over the field.

They gave up a kickoff for a touchdown. They fumbled the ball. They threw an interception when they had a chance to put together a winning drive. And they fell behind 13-3 in the second quarter ... to a team that came into the game with a 1-9 record.

Over the years, it seems as if forces have a tendency to go against the Lions. And you could actually see it on Sunday, when Matt Prater had a field goal attempt that was heading straight through the uprights and then a gust of wind took it wide.

So instead of building a lead, and then letting it slip away, which has been the story all year, the Lions simply rolled over and fell behind by 10 in the first half.

The Lions were playing without five starters, including Matthew Stafford. Return man Jamal Agnew (ankle) and defensive lineman Da'Shawn Hand (ankle) were also out.

I know the Lions have a bunch of injuries, but this is the NFL. Every team has injuries.

And that doesn’t explain this game.

Washington quarterback Dwayne Haskins entered the game as the 39th-ranked quarterback in the league, completing 58.2% of his passes. The 22-year-old rookie quarterback had just two TD passes and five interceptions. He had been sacked 14 times in just four games.

But the longer Haskins played against the Lions, the more his confidence grew.

The Lions' has a way of doing that to quarterbacks.

And there was Haskins, driving Washington downfield in the fourth quarter, setting up a tying field goal after Driskel threw an interception with less than two minutes remaining.

This is the pathetic state of the Lions.

Bad and getting worse.

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