Delayed Reaction and Airing Of Grievances: Jim Schwartz Needs To Go, NOW.

     (Editor's note: So, I'm once again guilty of neglecting the blog for weeks at a time. And as such, today's gonna be a day-long hate-fest, with all the ranting that I, or the two people who still read this, can handle. I wanted to do this on Monday, to coincide with Festivus and all that, but my real job got in the way of that plan. But that doesn't mean that I still haven't got a lot of problems with you people, nor that you're not gonna hear about 'em. So, here goes.)

     This is what I get for making bold predictions about the Detroit Lions.

     Hell, this is what I get for having the slightest bit of faith in the Detroit Lions.

     I wrote it in this very space, after the Turkey Day victory over the Packers, so I guess I'll take my beating for it now:

     And at the risk of looking like an idiot come the end of this season, it's bold prediction time: The Detroit Lions will be your 2013 NFC North champs.

     Obviously, that won't be happening, as Sunday's loss to the G-Men guarantees that no matter how badly Chicago and Green Bay tried to hand them the division on a silver platter, the Lions won't take it now. I could go into the details of Sunday's choke job, but what's the point? You already know what happened, even if you didn't watch the game: Matthew Stafford turned over the ball a ton and threw a pick-six (in this case, to a guy who was in jail the night before); Reggie Bush fumbled at a key point in the game; Calvin Johnson dropped a pass, and is still trying to play through injury; the defense made some no-name receiver look like Calvin Johnson (seriously, who the hell is Jerrel Jernigan?), and Jim Schwartz was awful at managing the play clock again. I could write this very recap at any point in the last month, and it would be entirely accurate.

     And that is all the more reason the Jim Schwartz era in Detroit needs to meet it's merciful end.

     The same problems that have plagued this team all season, and the last few seasons, were all too visible
on Sunday. And nothing has really been done to correct them; in the case of Stafford, at least, they're actually getting worse. Even his biggest apologists can't argue that Stafford hasn't regressed this season. And considering how great he looked in that 2011 season which ended in their first playoff appearance in over a decade, it's not a lack of talent on his part. Whether it's bad mechanics, or something else, clearly a new coach is needed that can fix a broken quarterback.

     The NFC North was essentially gift-wrapped for the Lions this season. They actually had a solid draft; Ziggy Ansah, Darius Slay, and Larry Warford have all made an immediate impact, and they found an undrafted gem in Joe Fauria. There were even some decent free-agent signings in Reggie Bush and Glover Quin. Most importantly, the only other competitive teams in their division lose their starting quarterbacks and other key players for large chunks of the season. And yet... here we sit, on the outside looking in, as Green Bay and Chicago play Sunday to decide which team wants it less. That is inexcusable, and the entire coaching staff should be shown the door immediately following the Minnesota game on Sunday.

     There's no reason the Lions should have had another second-half collapse this season. All the talent was there. On paper, this team was as good as any in the league. Yet, they couldn't manage to string together four consecutive quarters of good football if their lives depended on it. How many times have we watched this team blow what should be a fairly safe lead in the fourth quarter this year? Since their win in Chicago, it's been five. And at some point, that has to come back on the coaches. Clearly the players have the ability, but there's something else, whether it's an offense that is, at times, overly conservative late in games, or stupid penalties that bring a successful drive to a screeching halt, or hand a first down to the opposing team, that keeps them from closing out games. And that last part comes back to the clubhouse culture, it's something that has reared its ugly head many times during the Schwartz regime, it's something that really came to the forefront in the arrest-plagued 2012 offseason, and it's something that falls squarely on the shoulders of the coaching staff.

     How long can you really give a guy to turn around a franchise, even one that sunk to the depths that it did during Matt Millen's tyrannical reign of terror? And how long can you continue to make excuses for this team based on what happened five or more years ago? Wake up: It's not 2008 anymore. Only three players from that roster are even still on this team: Calvin, Andre Fluellen, and Dominic Raiola. What happened back then should have no bearing on what this team does now, nor the expectations that should be set for it. You've had virtually complete turnover of the roster since then, five years of solid, if not spectacular, drafting, and a GM that's given you a roster that provides you every opportunity to win. And yet... here we sit, on the outside looking in. And somehow, Schwartz doesn't consider this to be a failure.

     In the post-Millen era, mediocrity is no longer good enough, and underachievement cannot be tolerated. And if Martin Mayhew and the Fords want to send that message, they know what they need to do.