This would have been it for Matt Patricia. Had the Lions blown another double-digit lead and lost to lowly Washington -- one of only two NFL teams with fewer wins than Detroit over the past two seasons -- Sheila Ford Hamp almost certainly would have lowered the axe on Matt Patricia. She wouldn't have had a choice.
Patricia, fortunately, has Matthew Stafford on his side.
Facing the best pass defense in football on Sunday, Stafford injured his throwing hand early in the first half. And he still put forth his best performance of the season, lifting the Lions to a last-second victory. He completed 24 of 33 passes for 276 yards and three touchdowns, and he did most of it with his right hand wrapped in tape.
In typical Stafford fashion, he shrugged off the injury afterward. X-rays were forthcoming.
"I have to go get it looked at," he said. "I don't know what happened. It was on a play where I got sacked. They had a personal foul, so the next time I gripped the ball to throw it, it didn't feel so hot. But I'll let you know later."
Stafford could hardly miss on Sunday. And credit his offensive line for holding up against Washington's loaded defensive front. He had time to make throws, and he made most of them count. His third touchdown of the day gave Detroit a 24-3 second-half lead and moved him into a tie with Joe Montana for 17th on the all-time list.
Pretty cool, right?
"I'm just happy we got a win," Stafford said. "If I had done that and we lost, it doesn't matter. I just want to win games and I will look at all of that stuff at the end of it."
Staked to that 21-point lead, Patricia's defense does what it often does and frittered it away. So Stafford led the Lions on a field-goal drive to reclaim the lead, 24-21, with about two minutes to play. And Patricia's defense gave it away again -- albeit with some help from the referees -- 24-24 with 16 seconds left.
So Stafford took the field on his own 25, slung two quick completions, got 15 free yards thanks to a roughing the passer penalty, and set up Matt Prater's game-winning field goal. And probably saved Patricia's job -- and maybe Bob Quinn's, too.
"We were way behind the clock there, we knew that," Patricia said. "We had to make up some yardage pretty quick. Outstanding job. We do it a lot in practice, our guys do an outstanding job with it. I think we're at the point where they're telling me before I'm even telling them. They know what the situation is."
The situation, at large, is that Patricia and Quinn had to win this game. So did the Lions, who are now quietly alive in the playoff race, 4-5 with two more cushy opponents on deck. The postseason field has already been expanded to seven, and could be expanded to eight. Detroit could be a legitimate playoff contender after Thanksgiving.
But the conversation would have been markedly different with a loss on Sunday. It would have centered on a head coach and a GM on their way out, and maybe on a quarterback headed for the same fate. That fate may await them yet. A win over a 2-7 team -- a desperate win, at that -- is hardly a reason to believe in what's to come.
But for now, Patricia is alive and so is Quinn, and Stafford will be back for more next weekend against the Panthers.
I'm just proud of our guys for fighting," Stafford said. "A win is a win. It's tough to win in this league, I'm never going to apologize for one."
