Detroit Lions Leaving Fans with Familiar Feeling

Dec. 16, 2012; Glendale, AZ, USA: Detroit Lions head coach Jim Schwartz on the sidelines in the fourth quarter against the Arizona Cardinals at University of Phoenix Stadium. The Cardinals defeated the Lions 38-10. Mandatory Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports

If you’re the last person on the Detroit Lions bandwagon, you’re driving solo. Just make sure you turn off the engine when you leave or it will run out of gas just like the Lions did about six games ago. As a die hard draftnik, last nights game was fantastic. I had some serious concerns about the Detroit Lions marching into the desert and stealing a win from an even more inept franchise, the Arizona Cardinals. But when I saw the Leos get backed up in their own territory with two consecutive false start penalties followed by a Matthew Stafford interception, I felt like things had been restored to their proper place in the football universe. The ‘Same old Lions’ are back, baby.

Raise your hands if you don’t want to revisit the 90’s version of Detroit Lions football of following a playoff year with an absolute stink bomb of a season the next. The hot seat that Head Coach Jim Schwartz was sitting on just just got bumped up to defcon 4. It’s one thing to lose in sloppily played losses to good teams like the Texans and Packers where you think that if they had just made fewer mistakes then the Lions could have won that game. It’s another thing to appear to act like you don’t even care if you win or lose and get beat by team coming off a nine game losing streak that just lost last week to Seattle 58-0. The team has stopped playing for it’s head Coach.

Going back into the great history of the Detroit Lions, they have a saying for the Lions players as they play not to get injured in the last games of another meaningless season, It’s called “I-75 eyes”. Because most of the players live out of town, they only have eyes for I-75 and going home as soon as possible. I would be very worried if I’m one of the coaches for the Lions. To save his own hide, Schwartz is might have to throw some of his coaches under the bus when the season is over. Whatever it takes to keep his job.

A year ago, Schwartz had the Lions looking like a future perennial playoff contender. Now his approval ratings are worse than a caught cheating politician. He has only himself to blame. Where is the accountability on this team? Why didn’t he replace Gosder Cherilus after his third false start penalty? This pattern has to stop or next year is going to be Schwartz’s last as a Head Coach in the NFL. Once you’ve been a Head Coach for the Detroit Lions you never will get that job again for the rest of your life, just ask Steve Mariucci or Marty Mornhinweg.

Since I’ve been over this whole ‘Lions suck again’ thing for a month now, I’m starting to get pumped about a possible top five pick in next year’s draft. Unless Manti Te’o is really, really fast, I feel like the Lions are going to take the best Defensive End available. It only makes sense. The D-line gets good pressure from the middle but not the ends. If you’re not going to ever blitz, then replacing an over the hill Kyle Vanden Bosch only makes sense.

I have my fingers crossed. I’m starting to really believe that my Lions can lose the last two games and end the season on a eight game losing steak, catapulting them into a top five draft pick. Way to go, Lions.

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