The Lions, the switch and the wardrobe: How Jim Schwartz redefined Detroit
Three years after their infamous 0-16 2008 season, the Detroit Lions again have a zero in their record. This time, though, it’s on the right side – in more ways than one. Following Sunday’s incredible comeback from a 24-point deficit to beat the Dallas Cowboys 34-30 on the road, the Lions are off to a 4-0 start, and there’s a lot of optimism in the Motor City.
It’s hard to blame Lions fans; after all, this is a team that hasn’t gone 4-0 at the start of the year since 1980, hasn’t posted a winning record since 2000 and went 39-121 from 2001 to 2010.
With that kind of history, this dominant start stands out even more starkly than it would for your average NFL team. Juxtaposed against the background of Detroit’s ongoing economic issues with a cast of young, likeable players like Matthew Stafford and Ndamukong Suh and a charismatic coach like Jim Schwartz, perhaps the Lions’ return to national prominence takes on even more importance. The key question is if they’ll be able to sustain this momentum, or if a return to Detroit’s more typical mediocrity is going to follow.
There are plenty of promising signs for the Lions. They have one of the best wide receivers in the league in Calvin Johnson, who made two incredible touchdown catches on Sunday (one in triple coverage) and leads the league with eight receiving touchdowns on the year. He also has 321 receiving yards on 24 catches. Detroit also has a solid quarterback in Stafford, who’s thrown for 1,217 yards (seventh in the league) and 11 touchdowns this season with a 62.1 percent completion rate and just three interceptions.
Their ground game hasn’t been overly dominant so far, but Jahvid Best has plenty of potential and the offensive line is improving. On the whole, the Lions are 11th in total yards on the season but second in points scored, averaging 33.8 per game. If they can maintain their efficiency at converting field position into points, they’ll be a force to be reckoned with this season.
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Meanwhile, the Detroit defense is rounding into a terrifying group that not only puts pressure on quarterbacks with rushers like Suh and Kyle Vanden Bosch, but also pick off passes. The Lions’ seven interceptions on the year are second in the NFC behind only Green Bay’s eight and tied for third in the NFL. Three of those came against Dallas Sunday and two were returned for touchdowns, providing crucial parts of Detroit’s incredible comeback that handed the Cowboys their largest blown lead in a loss in franchise history.
The Lions’ run defense should be praised, too. They held Cowboys star tailback Felix Jones to just 57 yards on 16 carries Sunday and forced Dallas to go to the air frequently despite their lead, which resulted in those game-changing interceptions. Overall, Detroit’s defense is 11th on the year in total yards allowed, but they’ve done an excellent job in the red zone and are eighth overall in points allowed (19.0 per game). A strong defense has been crucial to the Lions’ run so far, and will be an important part of any sustained success.
What’s particularly interesting about the Lions’ success is how the team has consciously decided to put their past struggles out of mind – the attitude shift has extended all the way down to the jerseys they wear on the field. For some coaches, the temptation would be to talk about how bad things had been, making even modest progress seem better by comparison and reinforcing an “us-against-the-world” mentality. That’s not the tack Schwartz has taken since arriving in 2009, as The New York Times‘s Judy Battista relates:
More than half the roster was turned over in that first summer, but Schwartz also changed the team’s psyche, removing almost every vestige of the earlier epoch that might remind players of how bad the Lions were. Uniforms were changed, the seating arrangement in the locker room altered, weight machines discarded, the practice schedule overhauled. And Schwartz never mentioned the 0-16 season from 2008.
“From the time they walked in, they could never say this: ‘Same old stuff around here,’ ” Schwartz said at the time. “So to me, it wasn’t important to mention 0-16. We just needed to do it a little at a time.”
Schwartz is an unconventional figure in more ways than one. He’s one of the few NFL head coaches to be active on Twitter, and he tweets plenty of interesting stuff, including his playlists on the way to games. Schwartz often tries to theme his music towards the week’s opponent, and he clearly has diverse tastes, as recent songs he’s tweeted include Pantera’s “Cowboys from Hell,” Stevie Ray Vaughan’s “Texas Flood” and Toby Keith’s “Beer For My Horses” duet with Willie Nelson.
He has also shared his experiences regarding everything from Detroit Tigers games to Toby Keith concerts to his personal feelings on issues like the death of former Titans’ offensive coordinator Mike Heimerdinger, a former colleague. Schwartz’s tweets make it clear that he’s not your typical cliché-riddled NFL boss, and perhaps that’s helped him to connect with his players on a deeper level.
How long can Schwartz and Detroit keep this up? Although they’re 4-0, things aren’t exactly easy the rest of the way for the Lions. They face Chicago next Monday. The Bears made the NFC Championship Game last year despite their flaws, so they can’t be written off. After that, games against the surprisingly effective San Francisco 49ers, who upset Philadelphia Sunday, and the ever-dangerous Atlanta Falcons.
The Lions may be 4-0, but they’re not even in an uncontested first place in their division; they’re tied with the Green Bay Packers, who just happen to be defending Super Bowl champions and are also having a very good year. Detroit has to play them two times, and those games won’t be easy. Meanwhile, the Lions’ impressive +59 point differential largely comes from their 48-3 thumping of Kansas City in Week 2; their other three wins have come by seven, three and four points.
The Lions should still be in store for a promising year, and their future looks very bright, but their incredible undefeated streak may not last. That shouldn’t end the optimism in Detroit, though. There’s a lot to like about this team, and their remarkable turnaround offers hope not just for their city, but also for fans of bad NFL franchises anywhere. If the Lions can do this, maybe your team can too.
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