Jim Schwartz is coaching on borrowed time and he is starting to realize it. The Detroit Lions are officially out of playoff contention after their Week 16 loss to the New York Giants. After a preseason with high expectations, missing the playoffs is deemed a failure. Now, as the team begins to look towards the future, the first move could be to fire Schwartz.
The fans at Ford Field were not shy in expressing how they felt. As the clock ticked down in the final minutes of regulation, they booed the Lions showing no mercy. Some may have felt the play calling by Schwartz was too conservative in the final drive. The end result was a field goal by the Giants to get the upset win as the Lions walked off missing the playoffs for the fifth time in six years.
"I was disappointed to hear boos. We're getting ready to go to overtime right there and our crowd is great for us and they support us," Schwartz said. "The team needed a lift right there. We didn't need to feel bad at that point. We just intercepted a ball that got us to overtime. I thought that I was just trying to get our team ready. That's tough, the situations when your players are getting booed and you want them fired up. That's what I was trying to do right there."
Now the Lions must figure out what is the best move going forward. Schwartz is in the first year of a three-year extension he signed back in June of 2012. There is over $12 million remaining on the deal. Detroit owners have spoken out in support of Schwartz in the past, but as the playoff drought continues, the rumors of a firing continue to grow. The Detroit Free Press is reporting it would cost the Lions a lot to fire Schwartz, but are starting the process of considering candidates who can replace him.
"I get it, you come in and sit down and you cheer loud and occasionally want to get upset and boo," wide receiver Nate Burleson said. "But if the fans are frustrated, just imagine what we feel on the field. And I think maybe Schwartz was just speaking out because the same fans that boo turn around and go crazy when we get the lead. So I get it."
Both Matthew Stafford and Calvin Johnson have spoken out in support of the head coach. They both see the writing on the wall, but claim the fourth-quarter losses fall more on the team than the head coach. Schwartz told reporters after the game that is was not his job to speculate on his future. The team still had one more game left to play and he was concentrating on that. Will that Week 17 game be Schwartz's last?
