Detroit Lions fan confidence following familiar pattern after another Week 1 letdown

Guarded optimism is probably the best way you can describe a Detroit Lions fan during the offseason. This fanbase has been hurt too many times for unbridled Kool-Aid chugging optimism. But at the same time, if you’ve stuck around this long, you’re probably the kind of person that either a) loves the punishment or b) looks on the bright side of things.

So going into Week 1, Lions fans hung around a modest 63 percent confidence level in the direction of the franchise. However, after their collapse against the Arizona Cardinals, people are jumping ship, as they typically do after a Week 1 loss—or in this case, tie.

Now only 29 percent of fans are confident in the direction head coach Matt Patricia is taking the team, the seventh lowest mark in the NFL. That’s a drop of 34 percent in one week, the eighth biggest among FanPulse voters.

Of course, if this all feels oddly familiar, it’s because it is. Last year, Lions fans came into Week 1 with a similar feeling of caution after a concerning preseason. Following their Week 1 meltdown against the Jets, Lions fan confidence went from 68 percent to 32 percent—a 36 percent drop.

To repeat:

2018: 68% to 32% (-36%)
2019: 63% to 29% (-34%)

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Of course, the Week 1 games presented very different versions of Meltdown Lions. Last year, the Jets looked like the better team, and the Lions looked completely unprepared from the opening kickoff the opening pick-six. This year, on the other hand, the Lions looked like the better team, but simply melted down at the end of the game.

Still, after a year of disappointing results under Patricia, fans are lower than they were at this point last year, and you can sense the fuse running a little short. An upset win over the Chargers, however, would go a long ways in proving that Lions from the first three quarters last Sunday is more representative of this team than the final quarter and overtime.