There has been increased chatter that Detroit Lions head coach Jim Schwartz will be fired at the end of the season if the team fails to make the playoffs. Detroit is on the verge of getting shut out of the playoffs this season despite the roster upgrades. The Lions have missed the playoffs the last four of five seasons and now players are throwing their support behind the head coach.
After a late-season slide, the Lions are no longer the NFC North favorite. Things have to work in the team's favor in order for Detroit to head into the postseason. Despite the drama over the past few weeks, Ndamukong Suh is voicing his support for Schwartz who finds himself on a very hot seat.
"Am I playing for Jim's job?" Suh said, via FOXSportsDetroit.com. "I think that's a part in it. Everybody wants to win. Owners expect winning. I don't want that coach to go anywhere. I love his scheme. We've let go of an opportunity to put these other teams away. We opened the door back for them. We still have an opportunity to take care of business. It's most important that we do our part or none of it matters. That's what we've yet to do to this point is do our part, close the door."
This is not the first time Schwartz has found his job in question. The Detroit Lions have struggled with discipline issues both on and off the field. Past seasons have been highlighted by multiple fines on defense while the offseason always seems to feature an arrest or two. Reggie Bush agrees with Suh and notes the players must do more in these next two games.
"Just in our play. It could be from penalties or it could be from turnovers or it could be from how we finished the games in fourth quarters. It's not one specific play or moment in a game. It's the total game. It's how we play," Bush said, via the Detroit Free Press. "It's not a coaches' thing. It's a players' thing. We can do a better job all across the board."
While many question Schwartz's ability to control the team and discipline the players, Bush thinks the head coach is every bit the disciplinarian, but could do more to scare the players. He recalled while in New Orleans, Sea Payton would announced when a player was fined which made everyone want to behave better.
"I'm not going to say that's the reason we won the Super Bowl or the reason why we were successful. But it was just the environment that he kind of created for the team, and I'm sure he still does it," Bush said.
Detroit players can throw as much support behind Schwartz as possible, but in the end the playoffs will be the deciding factor. If the Lions come up short again, changes will be made.
