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Detroit Lions' Matt Patricia says record does reflect team's work

MINNEAPOLIS — You are what your record says you are — unless you’re the Detroit Lions and guaranteed to finish in last place in the NFC North for a second straight season. The Lions turned in another dog of a performance Sunday, losing to the Minnesota Vikings, 20-7, on a day when their offense could do nothing right. They went three-and-out on six of their first eight offensive possessions, finished with a season-low 231 yards of net offense, and narrowly avoided their first shutout since 2009. At 3-9-1, the Lions are in danger of finishing with their worst record since going 2-14 a decade ago. But after Sunday’s game, embattled coach Matt Patricia insisted the Lions are not what their record says they are — the old Bill Parcells saying be damned. “We’re in tight ballgames and we’re right there all the way through, and I think the hard thing for us and what I appreciate about this team is we don’t look at our record and say this is what we are,” he said. “I think we look at our record and say that’s not what we are and we’ve got to do better and try to figure out how we get the record to match up with what we are.” Losers of six straight, the Lions are one of the worst teams in the NFL. Just four teams have worse records, and only one — the lowly New York Giants — has a longer losing streak (eight). Patricia, an offshoot of the Parcells coaching tree after working for Bill Belichick for 14 years, took over a Lions team coming off back-to-back nine-win seasons. So far, he has managed just nine wins in 29 games. His .328 winning percentage is worse than Jim Schwartz (.363) and Steve Mariucci (.349), and with three games to play, his job could be on the line. The Lions host the Tampa Bay Buccaneers next week and close the season with a game against the Broncos in Denver and at home against the Green Bay Packers. Currently, they hold the fifth pick in April’s NFL draft. “I’ve been in the NFL a long time. I know what the NFL is about,” Patricia said. “So I do understand (the scrutiny over my record), but I also understand what we’re trying to do. I know there’s been a lot of coaches that have taken over programs ... and work from the bottom and try to grow on it and build it, and I know what those records look like, too, when those guys have all started out. "So for me, I try not to look at that stuff. I just try to look at each week. So right now, for next week, that’s the biggest thing for us.” While the Lions have kept games close for most of this season — they were one of just three teams to lead in each of their first 12 games — they never stood a chance Sunday against a Vikings team that’s likely headed for the playoffs. Rookie quarterback David Blough made his first career road start and struggled to move the ball with any consistency. He had consecutive passes batted down at the line of scrimmage to start the game and took a sack on the Lions’ third offensive snap. He threw two interceptions, one on a horrific overthrow. And he led the Lions to just nine first downs in the first three quarters, four of them courtesy of Vikings penalties. “They did a good job on that first drive and, yeah, it’s obviously frustrating to start slow,” Blough said. “It’s something we harp on and it can’t happen for us. Can’t happen for me. Got to find a way to get those to our playmakers, 'cause we had guys where they were supposed to be. They just made good plays.” The Lions had one legitimate scoring chance in the first half, when they drove inside the Minnesota 20 late in the second quarter. But Blough took a 12-yard sack rather than throw the ball away on third-and-2, and Matt Prater missed a 45-yard field goal, giving the Vikings the ball at their own 35-yard line with 1:06 on the clock. Kirk Cousins completed a third-and-2 pass to Stefon Diggs near midfield, and Diggs beat Darius Slay for a 44-yard gain one play later to set up Dalvin Cook’s 3-yard touchdown. The Vikings (9-4) led 17-0 at halftime, tacked on a 50-yard field goal early in the fourth quarter, after Blough’s first interception, and kept the Lions out of the end zone until 2:09 remained. “It’s frustrating,” safety Tracy Walker said. “But at the end of the day I can’t sit here and be like, ‘Oh, we suck and I’m just going to throw in the rest of the season.’ No, I’m going to continue to go out there and prepare for the next team and continue to push. At the end of the day, like I said, you win some, you lose some, but it’s all about how you approach the following week. "You can either give up and just let teams run all over or you can continue to go out there and fight and I’m choosing to fight so that’s what I’m going to do.” Blough finished 24 of 40 passing for 205 yards and was sacked five times. Cousins completed 24 of 30 passes for 242 yards with one touchdown, and Diggs added six catches for 92 yards for the Vikings, who sit a game behind the Packers for first place in the NFC North. “For me right now, we know we’re in the middle of a process, we know we’re trying to get better,” Patricia said. “So I think if you look at our team right now and where we’re at, we’re not winning, we understand that. That’s pretty much the obvious, but for us it’s about trying to improve and get better. "I think we have a tough team, we have a team that works hard. We understand we’re going to have to build on top of that and we’re trying to get us over the hump on some of those things that we’re not doing well enough in.” Contact Dave Birkett at dbirkett@freepress.com . Follow him on Twitter @davebirkett. Read more on the Detroit Lions and sign up for our Lions newsletter .