With the recent downfall of the Detroit Lions, players are left to defend one another as frustration grows. The Lions are at risk of missing out on the playoffs as they sit a game behind following the loss to the Baltimore Ravens. Now, everyone's job is in question from head coach Jim Schwartz to quarterback Matthew Stafford as the team tries to figure out what is going wrong.
Stafford signed a nice contract extension in the offseason, but his inconsistencies have many Lions fans wondering if it was worth it. The team continues to stick by him, no matter how poorly he plays, something that was amplified on Monday night. Stafford tossed a pair of fourth-quarter interceptions that killed the Lions' chances of winning the game. Overall, his passer rating in the fourth quarter is a depressing 29.5, but Schwartz remains confident that Stafford has the talent the team needs.
"I think he's an accurate passer," Schwartz said, via Dave Birkett of the Detroit Free Press. "Matt's a very mechanically sound quarterback."
If by mechanically sound he means poor footwork and overthrown passes, then yes he is mechanically sound. Wide receiver Calvin Johnson echoed the words of his head coach saying that despite the poor late-game play, Stafford is the best quarterback for the team and the Monday loss does not simply fall on him, it falls on everyone.
Lately, Stafford has been putting up Tony Romo-like numbers, failing to succeed when it matters most. Recently, head coach Jason Garrett called out the Dallas Cowboys quarterback after an audible at the line of scrimmage led to an interception sealing the loss for the team. Schwartz is not about to stoop to that level. He remains in public support of Stafford, confident that quarterback can put things back together in the coming week.
"I think we hold all our players to a high standard, but we also don't publicly shame them," Schwartz said.
Should Stafford be held to an even higher standard? His contract extension will earn the quarterback nearly $100 million by the time all of his non-guaranteed money begins to kick in. Stafford has yet to really lead the Lions to a high amount of success. The team has missed the playoffs the last four of five seasons. For how much hate Romo gets for his December woes, Stafford seems to have escaped them so far.
Schwartz is not only sticking up for Stafford, he is sticking up for himself. NFL Insider Ian Rapoport is reporting that if the Lions fail to make the playoffs, the head coach will be fired at the end of the year. Schwartz is not about to buy into the rumors, noting he is simply focused on winning now.
"There are negative voices all over this business," Schwartz said, via NFL Media columnist Michael Silver. "Those same voices told me I was committing career suicide when I took the Lions job, that it was unfixable and the worst in the NFL. There's too much for me to be positive about to buy into the negativity," he added. "I have three games for an NFC North title. I'm going to try to win them."