Lions vs. Texans: What Just Happened?

I’m not mad. I’m not even disappointed. We all knew what was coming before this game started. The Lions’ 41-25 loss reaffirmed everything Lions fans felt about the team the last few weeks. This is one of the easiest losses ever to move on from.

As always, I have a collection of thoughts on this game. These are those thoughts:

It’s over

Whether it happens Friday morning or at the end of the season, it’s over for Matt Patricia and Bob Quinn. The Lions defense allowing 40-plus points for the third time this year sealed it. The team was completely unprepared to stop Deshaun Watson and company in every way possible. They allowed Watson to throw for four touchdowns, one of which was this easy:

I’ve never been a fan of anyone losing their job, but it’s hard to not be eagerly awaiting the Adam Schefter tweet we all know is coming. The nightmare is almost over.

Adrian Peterson had a goodish game

We ride the guy a lot around Detroit. The truth is that he’s a drive killer 99% of the time. Still, he had himself a decent game on Thanksgiving. He ran for 55 yards and two touchdowns. He even hurdled a guy at one point. I’m gonna give the guy a pat on the back this time.

Long drives for little points is bad

Look, I understand what the Lions were thinking. They realized a little too late in the game that they were able to run the ball on the Texans pretty easily. So naturally, in true Matt Patricia fashion, the Lions decide to go with that when they’re down by two scores and spent half the third quarter on a drive that only generated three points. I mean this is the stuff that shows without a doubt that Matt Patricia is out of his element as a coach. He’s just in way over his head at this point. It seems like Sheila knows it too.

Lions legend Mohamed Sanu

There’s really not a whole lot here to be enshrined in eternal glory. I just like to see guys getting another chance. Sanu got his shot to play on Thanksgiving after Kenny Golladay and Danny Amendola were declared out on Wednesday. He turned that shot into four catches for 31 yards, a touchdown, and a two-point conversion. Good for him.

Creativity always shows up when someone is about to get fired

All Lions fans have asked for all season long is for the Lions to run an offense that the Cleveland Browns didn’t also run in 1957. Of course they decided to wait until the very last minute to pull out moves like the flea flicker to TJ Hockenson or Jamal Agnew’s pass to Matthew Stafford. The latter was totally a catch by the way.

It’s kind of maddening to see this stuff happen. I know I said I wasn’t mad, but come on man. It’s clear you have players that are able to pull this stuff off. Why wait until the end to try it? Again, this is just another reason why Matt Patricia will soon be gone. If you’re not willing to get creative or take chances, you just can’t be successful.

Wait, it’s Thanksgiving. Do your thing, Uncle Phil!

That’s gotta be the biggest focus of the day. The Lions are a really bad football team. Like I said earlier in the column, we knew that already. So now it’s time to go eat that turkey with the pillowy mounds of mashed potatoes and and the tiny onions. Go forget about this. The Lions aren’t firing Matt Patricia today. It’s not happening. Go eat, drink, smoke or take a nap. Do whatever you have to do to float that boat.

Because it’s Thanksgiving, I’m not going to waste any more of your time. The biggest takeaway here is that this era of the Lions is more than likely over. With that in mind.....

Bye, Matt.