Credit: Andrew Weber-USA TODAY Sports
In a game that still mattered for the Detroit Lions’ playoff hopes, the offense simply didn’t show up. They showed the same dread and disinterest that most fans had tuning in on TV or showing up at Ford Field. Key mistakes, turnovers, poor play calling, and injuries sealed the Lions’ 2013 fate on Sunday. Those events more than likely will lead to yet another hit of the reset button for this sad sack franchise.
Beaten by an awful team
Sometimes teams playing out the string can gain motivation by pushing a team with playoff hopes to the limit. This was not the case Sunday. Their opponent’s comedy of errors could have benefited Detroit, but the Lions didn’t get the joke. The Giants were penalized for a delay of game and had to use a timeout on the next play. New York jumped offsides on a punt and the Lions didn’t even specifically try to pull them offsides. They also turned the ball over back-to-back possession with a chance to win the game in regulation and overtime.
In other words, they tried to out Lion the Lions, but Detroit was incapable of taking advantage any of these times.
Bush’s next career is not as fortune teller
Remember way back in July when Reggie Bush stated that there was “no excuse” for the Lions not to have the #1 offense in the NFL in 2013. Also, remember before the Thanksgiving game when he promised that he had fumbled his last ball of the season?
Coaching changes coming
Up until the Baltimore game, I rejected that the Lions problems were all on coaching. Coaches don’t jump offsides, coaches don’t throw errand passes into tight coverage, and coaches don’t fumble. But these last few games have really made it clear that no coach could survive this mess.
Certainly some of it is luck going against Detroit (i.e. 61-yard field goal), but the inability to get this team prepared and the horrendous play calling has certainly not helped with underachieving players. With all the player support Jim Schwartz and his staff received from the players in the media over the past week, none of it matters.
Even Bill Walsh couldn’t survive a three-year stretch in which his teams went 5-7 (including playoffs in 2011), 0-8 (in 2012) and 1-5 (in 2013) in the second half of each year.
And if none of that sealed their fate, sitting on two time outs and refusing at least to try to go deep once, probably did it. Oh and yelling at the fans doesn’t help your case either.
It’s over, Johnny. Whether the hatchet falls today or next Monday, it’s falling.
Bottom Line
- I’ve been a Matthew Stafford fan/apologist since he got here. I’ve never understood the fans scorn against him, but with this recent stretch, I can no longer defend him. His awkward and horrible passes continue to put the Lions’ offense at a disadvantage. He is a true talent and still, even with several years under his belt, has potential. The Lions’ need to consider who can help their franchise quarterback when viewing the landscape of available head coaches in the offseason. In overtime, it almost felt like the only chance they had to win the game was via a defensive score.
- Was this season more disappointing than 2008? I’d say so. After September that year, you pretty much gave up on that team. This team had so much promise, so much potential, so many fourth quarter leads, domination of the division and nothing to show for it.