Lions fire GM Bob Quinn and head coach Matt Patricia

Just two days after a brutal Thanksgiving loss to the Houston Texans, the Detroit Lions announced the dismissals of general manager Bob Quinn and head coach Matt Patricia on Saturday. Detroit had hoped to be in playoff contention this season, but some bad losses and uninspired play have made that unlikely.

Quinn was hired from the New England Patriots in 2016. I his first year as general manager, the Lions went 9-7 and earned a wild card berth in the playoffs. They followed that with another 9-7 season in 2017; this time missing the playoffs by a game. After the 2017 season, Quinn fired head coach Jim Caldwell, saying that he wanted the team to be better than 9-7. That move has garnered much criticism lately from the national media.

Quinn hired Patricia in February of 2018. Categorized as a "defensive genius," a team with a struggling defenses seemed to be a perfect match for Patricia. It would turn out to be disastrous. Almost immediately that offseason, reports started to come out from everywhere in the Detroit media that players didn't like Patricia's style, and he had already lost the team. Those reports were compounded by poor play and effort on the field, which put Patricia on the hot seat for most of his tenure.

Detroit went 13-29-1 in just short of three seasons under Patricia and only won one game against a divisional opponent. Offensive coordinator Darrel Bevell takes over for the remainder of the season.