‘It’s Dagger Time!’
That is a phrase which was reportedly coined by Detroit Lions quarterback Matthew Stafford during the offseason. The point of the ‘Dagger Time’ phrase is to remind Lions players and coaches that no lead is safe and that closing out games strong is a must.
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But, as you know, the Lions have been the complete opposite of ‘Dagger Time’ since Matt Patricia took over as head coach.
Patricia has now led the Lions to an 0-2-1 record in Week 1, including blowing huge fourth-quarter leads in each of the last two seasons. The latest of those blown leads came on Sunday as the Lions allowed the Chicago Bears to come back from a 23-6 deficit to win the game 27-24.
Every since the final second ticked off the clock on Sunday, there has been a ton of chatter about the Lions firing Patricia and GM Bob Quinn immediately.
My question is, should the Lions fire their head coach and GM after just one regular-season game?
The answer to that question, in my opinion, is a no-brainer.
The answer is, NO!
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Now, let me be very clear about a couple of things. 1) Bob Quinn is not a good general manager and he never has been a good general manager. He has failed time and time again to address weaknesses and he does not deserve to have a GM job in the NFL. And 2) Matt Patricia has shown absolutely no sign of being a good head coach and he may never be a good NFL head coach. (Though part of me still believes in him, I am not sure why)
That being said, firing Quinntricia after just one game would hurt the 2020 Lions more than help them.
Heading into the season, I actually picked the Lions to win the NFC North, despite Quinn not addressing the Lions pass rush in the offseason (By the way, they had 1 sack on Sunday) I truly believe that Matthew Stafford is a great quarterback and that he will have the Lions offense ranked near the top of the league in offense when all is said and done, though he sure did not look great on Sunday against the Bears!
If the Lions lose their next three games (which is very possible), and they head into the bye week at 0-4, then ownership should absolutely clean house. But at this point, I prefer the Lions stand pat with Patricia and Quinn and see if they can turn things around before the bye week.
Nation, what do you think?
