Author: Paula Pasche

ALLEN PARK — A Michigan sports editor, who is not in regular attendance at the Lions, has written a scathing column criticizing the fans and local media for being racist in their treatment of Lions coach Jim Caldwell.

Caldwell, who is wrapping up his fourth season with the Lions, is the franchise’s winningest coach. He owns a 35-28 record in the regular season and has brought the team to the playoffs in two of his four seasons.

Yet, he is on the hot seat and could be fired next week because the Lions (8-7) failed to reach the playoffs this season. He is not alone, several NFL coaches face the possibility of losing their jobs next week. The NFL is a what-have-you-done-for-me-lately league. Coaches understand this when they are hired.

Caldwell was asked this morning if he felt race was an issue in his dealings with the media who are in attendance on a daily basis.

His answer: “No.”

In fact, he reminded the media that he does not read our coverage.

When pressed on the issue, Caldwell said: “I’m not saying anything, I’m just answering his question. Why do I have to go into any more detail? It’s end of the story. (Fans) can read it and come to their own conclusion, it doesn’t have anything to do with how I respond.

“He asked me a question and I said, ‘No.’ That’s the way I feel. You’ve never heard me blame anything, at any point in time or have any excuses about anything we’ve ever done and I never will. I’ve been around a long time, my father wouldn’t allow me to do it when I was a kid and there’s no difference today.’’

Coaches are hired to be fired and Caldwell understands this. The color of a coach’s skin has absolutely nothing to do with the issue. Ask any member of the media who is in regular attendance at Caldwell’s press conferences. That includes me. We have gotten to know him in four years. Race has never been an issue with Caldwell or with how he is treated.

He understands if the team doesn’t perform, his job is on the line.

“It’s part of our business, it’s the way it goes,’’ Caldwell said.

ALLEN PARK >> Lions coach Jim Caldwell said today that he hasn’t had discussions about his future with general manager Bob Quinn.

At his weekly press conference on Tuesday, the coach said he and Quinn talk every day but nothing had changed about his job status since the 27-16 loss at Cincinnati on Sunday which eliminated Detroit from the playoffs.

“Everybody gets evaluated at the end of the year — players, coaches, schemes — that’s part of the process,’’ Caldwell said pointing out they have one more game.

The coach, who was hired in January 2014, has a 35-28 regular season record with the Lions. His best season was his first, when the Lions went 11-5 in 2014. Detroit has been to the playoffs in two of his four seasons.

On Sunday, the Lions (8-7) wrap up the season when they face the Green Bay Packers (7-8) at 1 p.m. at Ford Field.

Caldwell said he has no plans to rest starters, including Matthew Stafford, even though there are no playoff implications. He noted that they’ve played many young players throughout the season and he has no intention of taking extended looks at rookies or inexperienced players.

In other words, it’s another game week for Caldwell and he expects the best of his team.

“Just looking at that overall, I’m not concerned about how I feel, it doesn’t matter, the thing is, we’ve got a game to play, it’s an opportunity for our guys to get better. We’ve got 16 opportunities and you can’t take them for granted,’’ Caldwell said. “There’s a phrase in the Bible that says, ‘Lack no zeal in your work.’ Our guys are professionals they’ll go out there with the same kind of attitude they’ve had. There’s a lot of character on our team, there’s been a lot of situations in the course of the year when they’ve been behind they fight and they come back. There’s no quit, no give-up in this group.

“We anticipate that will be exactly the same in this last game. That’s important for us. So you don’t know what’s going to happen the next day or the next year, you have got to give your best and I think our guys will be committed to that,’’ Caldwell added.

The coach stayed away from evaluating the season since it’s not over. But he did say, “We’re just a little bit above average and a little bit above average is not good enough.”

So much for the Lions’ season.

All they had to do was beat the Bengals, not a good football team.

They missed tackles, accumulated penalties and never found any kind of offensive rhythm.

The 26-17 loss to the Bengals was a total team effort and dropped the Lions to 8-7 with no chance for the playoffs. It makes next Sunday’s home game against Brett Hundley and the Packers meaningless.

(Photo courtesy of Detroit Lions)

There is a fine line between playing on an even keel and with passion. The Lions just didn’t look like they had the fire on either side of the ball today. The season was on the line, all they had to do was win.

“We were not sharp in any way, shape or form. We had a few plays here and there but they played better, plain and simple,’’ coach Jim Caldwell said.

The Lions offensive line was missing three starters, but no excuse. Actually that’s what Caldwell said too — he’s never used injuries as an excuse for a loss. And, hey, the Bengals had their share of injuries too.

Five reasons the Lions lost:

1. The Lions defense missed tackle after tackle, sometimes on the same play. The Bengals featured the NFL’s worst offense, averaging 268.9 yards per game before they met the Lions. They finished with 364 yards against the Lions and they had nothing to play for except maybe pride.

2. The Bengals also own the NFL’s worst running game, averaging just 77.0 rushing yards per game. They almost doubled that production thanks to the Lions’ porous rushing defense. Cincinnati finished with 143 rushing yards, with Giovani Bernard rushing for 116 yards. His previous high this season was 77 yards in a game.

3. Penalties were a killer in the second half. Don Barclay, who started at right guard in place of T.J. Lang, had three in the fourth quarter. The Lions were whistled for nine penalties costing 74 yards while the Bengals had just five.

4. The offense never got in rhythm. Matthew Stafford had completed more than 80 percent of his passes in the past three games, but only 54.3 percent against the Bengals. Stafford was 19 of 35 for 195 yards, one touchdown, on interception for a 68.2 rating.

5. The Lions had trouble running the ball with 22 carries for 87 yards. Perhaps you’ve heard this before. Rookie Tion Green had a few good runs and finished with seven carries for 43 yards including a rushing touchdown. (It was the Lions’ first fourth-quarter rushing touchdown by a running back in more than two years, according to FOX. Two years.) Don’t use the banged-up offensive line as an excuse. The Lions have to be better at running the ball. Caldwell has said many times they thought the run game would be fine this season with Ameer Abdullah and Theo Riddick healthy. That was a huge miscalculation by the coaching staff.