The Lions had a 14-3 lead today in Green Bay and ended up losing. For most teams, that’s a shocking loss. For the Lions, it’s par for the course.
Today’s game was the Lions’ fourth consecutive game in which they took a double-digit lead and then lost. According to the Elias Sports Bureau, the Lions are the first team in NFL history to lose four straight games in which they led by 10 or more.
Last week, the Lions had a 17-point lead heading into the fourth quarter but allowed Mitchell Trubisky and the Bears to run wild and lost the game in heartbreaking fashion with a dropped pass in the closing seconds.
In the final game of last season, the Lions jumped out to a 14-0 lead and led for most of the game but collapsed late to lose to the Packers.
In the game before that, the Lions had a 10-0 lead but ended up losing to the Broncos by 10 points.
Asked last week why his team keeps blowing leads, Lions coach Matt Patricia got testy with a reporter, and pointed out that he was the coordinator of the Patriots defense that held onto a lead with a late interception to preserve a victory over the Seahawks in Super Bowl XLIX. No one can take that Super Bowl ring away from Patricia, but as a head coach, his team isn’t winning, even when it has a big lead.