ALLEN PARK, Mich. — They won’t call it as such, but the Detroit Lions have reached a crisis point.
Consecutive ugly, almost inexplicable losses have taken them from the driver’s seat in the NFC North to the brink of the cliff. And they have just a couple of days to nurse their wounds before playing a pivotal game against the Green Bay Packers on Thursday night.
“There was so much on the line and there is still a lot on the line,” coach Jim Schwartz said after the Lions’ 24-21 home loss to Tampa Bay on Sunday. “It’s going to be a five-game season. As disappointing and bitter a loss as this is, we’ve got a short turnaround to bounce back. We’ve got a five-game season. This doesn’t eliminate us from the playoffs. It doesn’t do anything other than make the last five games even more urgent.”
The Lions turned the ball over five times and had a punt blocked against the Bucs. In the past four games they have committed 13 turnovers and forced just one. It was one inconceivable bumble after another – a 48-yard pick-six thrown at the end of the first half by quarterback Matthew Stafford, another interception at the goal line, an unforced fumble by receiver Kris Durham as he was falling out of bounds and, on what looked to be a completion inside the 5-yard line to set up a game-winning score, wide receiver Calvin Johnson had the ball knocked out of his hands and picked off.
You can’t explain it,” Schwartz said. “It was a poor performance.”
Veteran running back Reggie Bush and receiver Nate Burleson, indicated they would hold a players-only meeting early this week.
“We definitely need to have a team meeting,” Bush said. “We have to have a players-only meeting and really dig deep inside and find out what we’re made of. It’s going to take everybody on this team, coaching staff, players, to be able to overcome this.”
Burleson concurred.
“We’ve got to talk this week, a players-only meeting to figure out a way to fine-tune our focus,” Burleson said. “Guys were focused at the beginning of the (Tampa Bay) game, but there were drops in our energy and we let them continue to stay motivated. We have to find a way to snatch away the motivation of opposing teams, especially when we are at home.”
Players and coaches are at a loss to explain what has transpired these past two weeks, but Bush said he didn’t think the team has buckled under the weight of expectations.
“I didn’t get the vibe that we were kind of riding high, but we definitely didn’t handle the situation the best way,” Bush said. “We didn’t handle being in first place in our division like we should have. We didn’t handle it right.”
Schwartz said the team was prepared and did not take Tampa lightly because of the Bucs’ poor record. The players agreed.
“We didn’t take them lightly at all,” Burleson said. “I’ll let you know right now, that was one of the first things that Coach Schwartz, defensive coordinator, offensive coordinator told us. This is a good team. Don’t be fooled by the record. They said, ‘Don’t believe us. Just go watch the film.’ We watched the film all week and everybody understood the type of team that was coming here to play.”
One of the points of discussion, undoubtedly, will be to purge this loss quickly and get ready for Green Bay.
“That’s the motivation,” Burleson said. “We have to show up to work ready to put this behind us. It’s hard. I told the guys, you should be mad. … Be mad that we lost. We had a ton of mistakes and we had a chance to win. Be mad about that but there’s so much to be excited about.
“We’ve got a game in a few days. We got a chance to win the division. There’s so much more to be happy about than to be overly frustrated.”
–WR Calvin Johnson finished the game Sunday, but was walking gingerly on the ailing right knee that has been bothering him all season, the same one that kept him out of the game at Green Bay in Week 5. He seemed to bang it hard on a couple of plays Sunday.
In fact, he took himself off the field at least three different times Sunday, all after he made a catch and landed on that knee. Johnson did not talk about the injury afterward. His normal routine has been to take treatment on the knee Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday and return to the practice by Thursday or Friday. He has needed the full week to get the knee as healthy as it has been these past couple of week. He won’t have that much time to get it right this week with a Thursday game against Green Bay.
–CB Chris Houston left the game in the fourth quarter with what coach Jim Schwartz called a foot injury. No other information was given.
REPORT CARD vs. BUCS
PASSING OFFENSE: D – Two of the four interceptions thrown by QB Matthew Stafford were fluky – one was tipped by a defender and the other bounced out of Calvin Johnson’s hands. The other two, including a 48-yard pick-six, were horrible decisions by Stafford. There has been far too much miscommunication for a team with this much talent and experience this late in the season.
RUSHING OFFENSE: C – The numbers aren’t bad – 104 yards, 4.3 per carry – but they don’t tell the whole story. The Bucs played a soft box, six and seven defenders, most of the second half and the Lions didn’t exploit it enough. There was a lot of rushing yardage left on the field.
PASS DEFENSE: B – Take away the one breakdown – an 85-yard touchdown to receiver Tiquan Underwood – and they limited the Bucs to 13 completions for 162 yards. They sacked Bucs QB Mike Glennon four times, two by rookie Ziggy Ansah.
RUSH DEFENSE: B-plus – The Bucs had come in boasting a 100-yard rusher in each of the last three games. The Lions stuffed Bobby Rainey on 22 yards in 24 carries. In the last two games, the Lions have allowed just 62 yards rushing. They haven’t allowed a rushing touchdown in seven straight games, spanning 30 quarters.
SPECIAL TEAMS: C – The Lions allowed a punt block for the first time in three seasons. They also covered poorly. Eric Page returned two kickoffs out of the end zone for 44 and 39 yards.
COACHING: C – It’s hard to blame coaches when the best players make uncharacteristic physical mistakes. The game plan was sound. The team seemed prepared physically and emotionally. There was no sense they were taking the Bucs lightly. But nobody could shut off the turnovers.