Author: Paula Pasche

Paula Pasche, a veteran sports writer, covers the Detroit Lions for her Lions Lowdown blog. She has written two books, "Game of My Life Detroit Lions" and "100 Things Lions Fans Should Know & Do Before They Die" which are available at bookstores and on Amazon.com. She won first place for column writing from the Society of Professional Journalists in Detroit (Class B) in 2011, 2012 and 2013 and was The Oakland Press 2010 Staffer of the Year.

Detroit Lions Matt Patricia: No decision yet on Jim Bob Cooter’s future

No timeline for staff changes

ALLEN PARK — Matt Patricia said on Monday that he has not made decisions on his staff moving forward. That includes offensive coordinator Jim Bob Cooter.

The Detroit Lions coach, who just completed his first season with a 6-10 record, said he wants to take time to let the emotions die down and then will evaluate which coaches and players will be a part of the equation moving forward.

“In all aspects, it’s not just coaching, it’s support staff, it’s players, it’s scheduling, it’s everything,’’ Patricia said. “We’ll definitely evaluate.’’

He was asked specifically about Cooter, but Patricia responded in generalities.

Cooter, who was originally hired as the offensive coordinator by ex-coach Jim Caldwell, is in the final season of his contract. The Lions offense went from 13th in the NFL in 2017 to 24th in 2018 based on yards per game.

Patricia said he’s not sure when decisions on his staff will be made.

“I don’t think I need to put a hard timeline on it at this current moment. But obviously we do have a time limit we do have to address with it,’’ Patricia said. “Things will come up when they come up. For the minute I’m going to take the rest of the day, enjoy the New Year, see my kids and we’ll go from there.’’

The Lions wrapped up their season with a 31-0 win at Green Bay on Sunday. The players cleaned out their lockers on Monday.

Five key moments from the Detroit Lions 2018 season which ended 6-10

Win at Green Bay wrapped up Patricia’s first season

It’s amazing what a win can do, especially a 31-0 shutout at Lambeau Field. The Lions are now entering the offseason on a bit of a positive note.

They wrapped up their first season under coach Matt Patricia on Sunday with a 6-10 record. After finishing 9-7 a year ago, the 6-10 mark is disappointing.

Patricia’s bunch beat Green Bay twice and also upset the New England Patriots. But consistency was an issue all season — game to game, quarter to quarter and often series to series.

Injuries played a factor too, but every NFL team has to withstand losing players throughout the season.

Next it’s time for evaluation before free agency and the draft where the Lions will have the eighth overall pick.

First, a look at the five key moments of the Lions’ 2018 season:

1. Hiring Matt Patricia who had never been a head coach at any level. This was not unprecedented in the NFL this season. Bears’ coach Matt Nagy and Colts coach Frank Reich were also first-time head coaches, along with Arizona’s Steven Wilks. Nagy turned the Bears around from a 5-11 record in 2017 to win the NFC North (12-4) and Reich took the Colts from 9-7 in 2017 to 10-6 and the playoffs. Wilks was fired on Monday. He took over a 8-8 team and he guided them to a league-worst 3-13 record. Patricia, who is from the Bill Belichick coaching tree, improved the defense, but seemed to have trouble getting the players to buy into his ways early on, starting in training camp.

2. The 48-17 loss to the New York Jets in the season opener dampened enthusiasm for Patricia from the get-go. It wasn’t just a loss, it was a drubbing from a team that would finish the season 4-12. The “new-look” Lions were outscored 41-7 in the second half. The defense allowed 169 rushing yards and 198 passing yards to rookie quarterback Sam Darnold playing in his first NFL regular season game. Matthew Stafford threw four interceptions and one touchdown. It was a brutal, total team loss and a sign of things to come.

3. The 28-14 home loss to the Seahawks in Week 8 may not have seemed huge, but the Lions were 3-3 going into the game and had a chance to get to 4-3. This is a mental game and it could have mattered. The Lions could only manage 34 rushing yards while allowing the Seahawks 176 rushing yards with no run of more than 12 yards. It was the first of three straight losses.

4.  Wide receiver Golden Tate was traded on Oct. 30. It appeared to be a sign from GM Bob Quinn that he had given up on the season. Players and coaches say otherwise, but look at the results. The Lions were 3-4 at that point. They hadn’t reached the tipping point. Since Tate was shipped to the Eagles, the Lions were 3-6. It’s odd because every week, Patricia said he is only thinking about the next game. Yet, Quinn traded Tate looking to the future and for a draft pick since this was most likely Tate’s last season with Detroit. One argument is what if Tate was injured and missed the rest of the season? That would have been bad, but the trade sent a message that the season was over. Real or perceived, the message was there. That should have been a factor in making the trade. Talk all you want about the next guy stepping up, the next guy doesn’t possess Tate’s ability to gain yards after the catch or excel in clutch situations.

5. The Thanksgiving 23-16 loss to the Bears was key in knocking the Lions out of the playoff hunt. Detroit was 4-6 going into that day with eight games remaining. Dropping to 4-7, they weren’t mathematically out but might as well have been.

Other key factors:

— Losing 30-27 to the hapless San Francisco 49ers in Week 2 to drop to 0-2. It’s not like the 49ers are a powerhouse — they finished the season at 4-12.

— The 26-10 win over the Patriots was impressive, but the Lions didn’t build on it with losses in four of the next six games.

— The trade for Damon ‘Snacks” Harrison boosted the defense. Snacks proved to be a valuable run stopper, a missing element of the defense. Don’t dismiss the power of a Twix.

— Losing wide Marvin Jones Jr. for final seven games due to a knee injury, the week after Tate was traded.

— Bringing back running back Zach Zenner after his back was healed certainly helped the run game down the stretch. Zenner averaged 4.8 yards per carry (55 for 265 yards) in eight games. He saved the best for last with 13 carries for 93 yards and a touchdown in Sunday’s shutout win at Green Bay.

Five main reasons Detroit Lions shut out Green Bay Packers to end the season

First shutout for Lions since 1996

All week the Detroit Lions players and coaches said that Sunday’s season-ending game at Green Bay was important. Then they went out and played like they meant it.

The Lions shut out the Packers, 31-0, at Lambeau Field on Sunday. It was Detroit’s first shutout since 1996. The Lions had not shut out the Packers since 1973 and it was the first time they had shut them out at Lambeau since 1970. It was also the Lions’ second sweep of the Packers in the last two seasons.

Detroit finishes 6-10 in the first year under coach Matt Patricia who deserves credit for getting the team ready to go in a somewhat meaningless game.

Five of the main reasons the Lions won:

1. Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers didn’t look like himself from the get-go and then left in the first quarter with a concussion. DeShone Kizer, who hadn’t played since the regular season opener, stepped in but wasn’t able to put points on the board. He was 16 of 35 for 132 yards, and one interception.  It’s possible the Lions could have beaten a healthy Rodgers, but it was easier without him. Give the Lions defense credit for holding the Packers offense to zero points and just 175 total yards.

2. Offensive coordinator Jim Bob Cooter, perhaps in his final game with the Lions, went to the trick-play chapter of his playbook and dialed up a fake field goal. Kicker Matt Prater made it work when tight end Levine Toilolo got open in the end zone and caught Prater’s pass for a touchdown. It gave the Lions a 14-0 lead midway through the second quarter. Cooter also had the offense playing at a quicker tempo in the first half.

3. Matthew Stafford, who was wearing a left knee brace and has been fighting through a back injury, had his best game in weeks despite not having any of his top targets available. Stafford was 20 of 32 for 266 yards, 2 touchdowns and a 109.6 rating. Kenny Golladay (chest) was inactive. No problem — Brandon Powell (six catches, 103 yards) and Andy Jones (six for 50 yards) stepped up. But it was veteran T.J. Jones (three catches, 40 yards) who caught a pair of touchdown passes. The Lions’ offense had not scored more than 22 points since the 32-21 win at Miami on Oct. 21.

4. The Lions stuck with the run game. LeGarrette Blount (11 carries, 15 yards) struggled, but Zach Zenner had a career day with 21 carries for 93 yards and a rushing touchdown. He also caught one pass for 30 yards. Zenner had two touchdown runs negated due to holding penalties. Zenner has stepped up big in recent weeks with the absence of rookie Kerryon Johnson. Wouldn’t be surprising to see Zenner return next year. He’s a solid backup and plays well on special teams.

5. The Lions defense never quit despite the double-digit lead through most of the game. Jarrad Davis, Tavon Wilson and Kerry Hyder each had a sack. Quandre Diggs came down with his third interception of the season late in the fourth quarter.

(Photo courtesy of Detroit Lions)

BONUS: Fox 2’s Jennifer Hammond tweeted that after the game she asked Lions owner Martha Firestone Ford if she was happy with the direction the team is headed under Patricia. “Yes I am,” Ford said.