Five good questions with Pride of Detroit: Can Kenny Golladay save the day, Jeff Okudah’s rough start and are we nearing the end of the Matt Patricia era?

We are into the Arizona Cardinals third game of the season, this one against the 0-2 Detroit Lions.

We have talked with Pride of Detroit’s Mike Payton to discuss the upcoming matchup and what is going on with the Lions.

Enjoy and give him a follow.

1. The offense has been good enough with Kenny Golladay missing is, what is the biggest issue with the defense?

The biggest issue with the Lions defense is predictability. Every team knows they’re going to run man and every team knows how to pick that apart. When Kliff Kingsbury spoke to Detroit media earlier in the week he was asked if he had noticed any difference in the Lions defense after their matchup last season, he essentially said it looks exactly the same. I fully expect Kingsbury to out coach the Lions in this phase all day long.

2. How much will having Golladay back help this team (reports are he will play)?

Right now it’s expected Golladay will play. He practiced all week and looked pretty good too. There’s no telling if that means he’ll actually play. You know how it is with injuries in this league. You never know until noon on Sunday. If he does play, it drastically helps the Lions offense.

You could see in the first two weeks how much the Lions needed a threat in the red zone. You could also see defenses double team Marvin Jones and take away TJ Hockenson. This forced Stafford to throw to rookie Quintez Cephus or Danny Ammendola. Having Golladay back opens everything up for Stafford.

3. Arizona Cardinals fans loved Jeff Okudah coming out, how did he look in his only game against the Packers?

It was a rough outing for Okuadah. You can;t blame the kid though. Your first game is against Aaron Rodgers and you have to cover Davante Adams. He was destined to feel growing pains. Right now it’s all about patience with the rookie. I have no doubt that he will one day be one of the best corners in the league. His work ethic is just too strong for him to fail. Plue he obviously has the talent.

In the short term, he’s gonna have his hands full with Hopkins on Sunday.

4. Is the Matt Patricia era ending soon?

More than likely. Matt Patricia is 9-24-1. That’s the worst first 34 games for a head coach in Lions history. If you know anything about Lions history, that’s really bad. He’s completely predictable, can’t manage a game and doesn’t seem to want to take the blame for anything. At this point, I would be surprised to see the Lions not fire someone in the bye week in two weeks. It’s going to take a miracle for the Lions to make it to the bye at 2-2. That’s his only hope right now.

5. Do the Lions right the ship against the Cardinals?

I would like to say that they do. But they won’t. There’s just too much against the Lions right now. If I had to predict how this game will go, it’s like this. The Lions will take an early lead like they have the last two weeks, then the wheels will come off and the Cardinals will drop a 40 burger on them.