After becoming the first team in National Football League to go 0-16 in 2008, the Detroit Lions could only look ahead to moving forward as there was only one way for them to go which was up. In 2009, Jim Schwartz was hired as the Lions head coach and his job was to make this team respectable. In his first two seasons as the head coach of the Lions, Schwartz’s record was a combined 8-24. But in 2010, the Lions finished the regular season on a four-game winning streak which developed optimism in the Motor City. In 2011 the Lions finished the season with a record of 10-6 to earn their first playoff berth since 1999. Detroit came into the 2012 NFL season as a prohibited favorite by some to win the Super Bowl, but they lost their last eight games of the regular season to finish the season with a record of 4-12. There was some speculation that Lions general manager Martin Mayhew would fire Schwartz in 2012, but that was not the case.
The Lions were expected to be an improved team this season, but would their improvement be enough for them to contend in the NFC North?
So far this season the Lions have not been under the .500 mark and they are 4-1 in the NFC North which should signal that they’re sitting pretty within the division, but that is not the case.
In Weeks 8 and 10, the Lions appeared to have turned the corner as a franchise. After trailing the Dallas Cowboys 27-17 in the fourth quarter, the Lions rallied for a 31-30 victory. In Week 10, the Lions were able to hold off the Chicago Bears for a hard earned 21-19 victory. At this point the Lions record was 6-3 while the Bears and Green Bay Packers each had a record of 5-4. Theoretically the Lions had a two-game advantage over Chicago being that they swept the season series this year. The icing on the cake for the Lions was that both the Bears and Packers were missing their starting quarterbacks in Jay Cutler (Bears) and Aaron Rodgers (Packers) due to injury. Opportunity knocked on the front door of Ford Field and the Lions have been unable to answer.
Since defeating the Bears on November 10, the Lions are 1-4 with two of those defeats coming against teams with losing records. In Week 11, the Lions were leading the Pittsburgh Steelers at halftime by a score or 27-20, but they would be shutout in the second half as they lost 37-27. In Week 12, the Lions were heavily favored at home over the 2-8 Tampa Bay Buccaneers, but five turnovers including four interceptions by quarterback Matthew Stafford did Detroit in as they lost 24-21. The Lions appeared to get back on track on Thanksgiving Day over the Rodgers-less Packers with a 40-10 victory, but the snow in Philadelphia did them in the following week as they lost to the Philadelphia Eagles 34-20 which dropped their record to 7-6. In their last game the Lions hosted another 7-6 team in the Baltimore Ravens on Monday Night Football.
After a 14-yard to touchdown run early in the first quarter by running back Reggie Bush put the Lions ahead 7-0, they squandered numerous chances to put further distance between themselves and Baltimore and they let the opportunities slip through their hands. The Lions went 4-for-13 on third down, but what hurt them the most was that their sure handed wide receiver in Calvin Johnson had several key drops. Stafford would also go to throw three interceptions as the Lions fell to the Ravens 18-16.
Now with two games to go and a record of 7-7 the Lions find themselves one game behind the Bears and a half-game behind the 7-6-1 Green Bay Packers. A few weeks ago the Lions appeared to be a lock for the playoffs, but that is no longer a certainty. With their current record the only way for the Lions to qualify for the playoffs is to win the NFC North as the New Orleans Saints, Carolina Panthers, San Francisco 49ers, and Arizona Cardinals are the four teams that are in contention for the two wild card spots in the NFC. With Rodgers and Cutler out due to injury the Lions were never able to solidify their grip on the NFC North. Now Cutler is back for the Bears and the status of Rodgers is still up in the air as he is recovering from a broken collarbone.
Since last year I have felt that the Lions have lacked leadership and this was illustrated by Bush this week as he claimed the Lions also “lack discipline”. In the past three seasons the Lions have been one the most penalized teams in the NFL as they had over 100 penalties each year from 2010-2012. With 97 penalties through 14 games this season it is safe to say that Detroit will once again go over the century mark in the category for 2013. In their past five games, Stafford has thrown nine touchdown passes, but he has also thrown nine interceptions which have come at the most critical time for this team. With Johnson, Bush and defensive tackle Ndamukong Suh, the Lions have stars on this team that will keep the fans coming to Ford Field to watch them as they will light up the fantasy football standings. But the man that must emerge and lead this team is Stafford.
The Lions made Stafford the first overall pick of the 2009 NFL Draft. In his first two seasons the injury bug limited Stafford to just 13 games, but since 2011, he has gone on to pass for nearly 15,000 yards. Stafford can sling the rock, but he must lead the Lions back to the playoffs if he is going to be able to join the elite status with quarterbacks such as Rodgers. Stafford has all of the tools necessary to get the job done as he has a strong arm, a physical specimen of a wide receiver in Johnson, and he also has moxie. Stafford has to take better care of the football as the Lions are minus-13 in turnovers this season which is 28th in the NFL. The Lions must also do a better job of defeating teams that they are favored to secure a victory over which will be put to the test in the final two games of the season. The Lions host the (5-9) New York Giants tomorrow while they will be on the road to clash with the (4-9-1) Minnesota Vikings next Sunday. The Lions will be scoreboard watching tomorrow as the Packers will be at home to face the Steelers while the Bears have a contest against the Eagles. A victory by the Lions over the Giants coupled with losses by both the Packers and Bears will make Week 17 extremely interesting. The Bears and Packers will meet to finish the regular season as one team will be bumped off, but the Lions must first take care of their own business.
If the Lions are unable to win the NFC North after it was literally “handed” to them earlier in the season, this could be it for Schwartz. Schwartz was able to get this team to the playoffs in 2011 and create a buzz for the Lions, but his ship appears to have run a ground on Lake Michigan as he has not been able to get this team to the next level. The Lions have championship parts on this team, but they have been unable to get out of their own way. Schwartz, Stafford, and the rest of the Lions will need a Christmas miracle to change their reputation in the NFL as underachievers.
Source: nflpenalties.com, pro-football-reference.com, sportingcharts.com
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