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Peterson: Packers have a coach, Lions don’t

Contrary to what propaganda the Ford family is putting out these days, they don’t have a football coach running the Lions.

Matt Patricia has clearly shown that he belongs on the long list of Motown coaching/front office failures — people like Marty Morhningweg, Darryl Rogers, Matt Millen, Monte Clark etc.

Patricia’s method of coaching is to stand on the sidelines with a pencil in his ear and basically ignore what’s taking place on the field.

He doesn’t know when to call timeouts or challenge a bad call. Those two misgivings have been displayed many times.

For a guy who was called a “defensive specialist,” he has produced game strategies that have allowed opposing quarterbacks to resurrect their careers.

The Chicago Bears Mitchell Trubisky needed just two games against Detroit this fall to regain his confidence and is now back on track.

Tampa Bay’s Jameis Winston, a wildly inconsistent performer his whole career, passed for nearly 500 yards last week against the Lions. He’s on the hot list of free agent QBs.

What few Lions fans left who will admit to that, now are wearing bags on their heads to hide the fact.

Or they have just stopped showing up at Ford Field, like last week when the stadium was barely half full.

And the indignity of it all will come in the final game of the season when the Packers visit Detroit.

Count on seeing thousands of Wisconsin cheeseheads showing up at the game and drowning out the few Detroit fans there.

In Green Bay, they have a new coach in Matt LaFleur who has ignited interest in the whole town.

He replaced Mike McCarthy, who had evolved into a dour replica of Mike Tomlin of the Steelers.

What LaFleur has done most effectivly is learn how to work along with Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers, the sometimes mercurial star.

Make no mistake, Rodgers is the boss of this team. He’s aging, but he calls the plays, makes the decisions and uses his talent and charisma to get the job done.

When he does retire (he’s 36 now), Packers fans will be in for a long wait for playoff success, though not long as Detroit’s has been.

As for this season, San Francisco, Seattle and New Orleans are all more than a match for Green Bay.

But for now, the Packers are a playoff team with a shot at the big prize.

In Detroit, the franchise is a rudderless ship without a competent coach.

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