Detroit Lions head coach Matt Patricia and the rest of the team don't find themselves to be in the position where they previously envisioned themselves to be, heading into the latter stages of the 2020 NFL season. A scoreless defeat in Week 11 against the Carolina Panthers added more salt to the wound of another potentially disappointing campaign for the Lions.

The tactician knew in himself that he needed to turn the tides if he wanted to lead the team to respectable performances and ultimately retain his job by the end of the season:

“I think again for us, we kind of just focus one week at a time and all that stuff,” Patricia said via the Detroit Free Press. “I've had a philosophy for a long time, I go to work every day to try to earn my job. I mean, that's just what I do. That doesn't matter if it's coaching, doing engineering, I don't care if I'm in school. So, look, I'm just going to go to work and work hard. We all know that. We know we're in the NFL, and that's what it is. We got to go do better.”

Lions quarterback Matthew Stafford has been fairly healthy this season, after missing half of their 2019 campaign which led to the team settling for a cellar-dwelling 3-12 record in the NFC North division. However, it wasn't his health but his struggles under center which turned out to be the more pressing concern for the Lions this time around.

The former Georgia standout only tallied 178 passing yards in the game and was sacked five times by the Panthers' defense. His weapons also failed to get going as an expected contributor in wideout Marvin Jones was only limited to 51 yards on four touches en route to a disappointing 20-0 loss.

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