Reggie Bush says lack of chemistry hurt Lions

The Detroit Lions are just a few plays from being in the hunt for home field advantage in the NFC playoffs. Then again if my aunt had a package, she'd be my uncle. It's not good being close, you have to find a way to get over the hump and the Lions couldn't do it.

The team was hurt by it's inability to get crucial third down stops on defense and untimely turnovers on offense. The Lions couldn't find a way to overcome the avalanche of bad luck that caught up to them.

Lions running back Reggie Bush seems to have an idea what went wrong for a team that had such a promising start to missing the playoffs.

"There were certain games where maybe the offense was playing well and the defense struggled," he said, per the Detroit Free Press. "Then there's games where defense played well and offense struggled. Or there's games -- I'm thinking of the Philadelphia game -- where special teams just played lights out and offense and defense couldn't really get it together.

"I just think that maybe our chemistry as a team definitely struggled and lacked a little bit -- and obviously the turnovers and big plays, making more plays when needed."

Bush is probably the only Lion in the locker room with the credibility to be a team leader. He's won national championships at USC and was on a Super Bowl winning team in New Orleans as a member of the Saints.

 “As a team, when you have kind of have that mentality that no matter what the situation is, you can always overcome it and come out with a win. That type of chemistry. ... And you’re feeding off each other, too. When offense scores a big touchdown and defense goes out there and gets a big stop or defense gets a turnover, offense goes out there and kind of answers with a touchdown. Something kind of like that.” 

When Bush and Nate Burleson talked about having a team meeting to get things right after losses to the Pittsburgh Steelers and Tampa Bay Buccaneers, quarterback Matthew Stafford shot down the idea.

I'm not saying that would've made a difference, but maybe things might've changed and the team might've shown more of a sense of urgency instead of just talking about it. I think Bush might have been alluding o that moment.

"It begins in the offseason," Bush said. "It's not something that happens overnight. From my experience, it's something that builds. It's a culture, a mentality that's built from the offseason and not in Week 1 or Week 2."

The Lions need to make a few changes and do some soul searching during the offseason. This was a golden opportunity and the Lions blew it. They have to come back next season and play like a team on a mission, not one hoping for a few lucky breaks that they didn't capitalize on this season.

Lions players support coach Jim Schwartz

After seemingly having the NFC North division title firmly in their grasp the Detroit Lions are seeing their season slip away.

After being in control of the division with a 6-3 record with a sweep of the Chicago Bears, the Lions have dropped three of four and now sit in third place in the division at 7-7. The slump has put pressure on head coach Jim Schwartz to right the ship and get the Lions to the playoffs or risk being fired. Despite the Schwartz fielding questions about his job security the Lions players have came out and voiced support for the embattled coach.

Defensive tackle Ndamukong Suh was vocal about how he felt about Schwartz and the team.

 “Am I playing for Jim’s job? I think that’s a part of it,” Suh said today. “I’m sure everybody wants to win — the owners expect winning — but most importantly, you’ve got to play for winning, play to have a hunger to want to be a winner, and that’s what I play for.

“Obviously, I don’t want that coach to go anywhere. I love his scheme, love the way things go, but I don’t think that has to do with anything right now. What we need to do is focus on getting these next two wins and, most importantly, we got to go and take care of business at home against the New York Giants.”

Maybe he doesn't want Schwartz to go because he never disciplines him when he does anything wrong. Maybe a coach that would come in and be hard on him and make him accountable is something he might not like.

Nate Burleson knows that it's the players that ultimately decide games but coaches always pay the price.

“You look at all the losses we’ve had, it’s came down to plays we didn’t make,” receiver Nate Burleson said. “It seems like there’s always a point in the game where we have a chance to extend the lead or put ourselves in position to control the rest of the game, and we don’t do that, so we can’t look further than the guys wearing the jerseys.

“Maybe it’s just older guys talking; we want to shoulder the responsibility anyway. I think that’s the best way to look at it anyway. The coward’s way out is trying to point the finger in other directions. So if anybody wants to give criticism, give it to the players, not the coaches. They don’t suit up. They make the calls that put us in the position to be successful, and we’ve got to capitalize and make those plays happen.”

Correct Nate, but when it's third and short Schwartz shouldn't be cosigning play calla that have an empty backfield and shotgun formations. That's why fans and media always jump on the coach.

The Lions have a chance to stop the bleeding as they will face the reeling New York Giants on Sunday. the way things are going for the Lions this game won't be a gimme. They'll be favored but with both teams struggling something will have to give. The Lions still have a shot at the division crown but will need help by the Philadelphia Eagles and Pittsburgh Steelers and they'll have to take care of business themsleves.  

 “We let go of an opportunity to put these other teams away,” Suh said. “We opened the door back for them. We still have an opportunity to take care of business, and it’s most important that we do our part, or none of it matters. And that’s what we’ve yet to do, to this point, is do our part and close the door. So now we’ve let a bunch of ants in the house and now you’ve got to go get an exterminator to get them out.”

Time for the Lions to put up or shut up.

Nate Burleson says Fairley and Leshoure need to tighten up

With off-season workouts and the NFL draft right around the corner, the Detroit Lions are reeling from off-field distractions. Marijuana arrests to Mikel Leshoure and Nick Fairley to be specific. The arrests gives Lions fans plenty to be nervous about. The Lions look to be headed in the right direction and they turn into the Cincinnati Bengals.

Nate Burleson isn't one to take this lightly. In an interview on the NFL Network Burleson let it be known that he plans having a talk with the youngsters to let them know that kind of behavior won't be tolerated.

“I’m just going to say tighten up,” Burleson said during an appearance on "Total Access" Thursday on NFL Network. “We’ve done too much to get to where we’re at. There’s been a black cloud hanging over Detroit for so long, so for us to go from 6-10 to 10-6 and feel like we’re heading in the right direction and just a few mistakes happen, we’ve got to tell the young guys to get it together.


“But here’s the thing, I really believe that, in the analogy of football, you’ve got to fumble in order to have great ball security. So in life, these guys got to stumble a little bit. And you know as a young guy in the league, you’re going to make those mistakes and hopefully this is just one thing that happens and doesn’t happen again for a lot of these guys.”  

Fairley and Leshoure weren't the only ones to run afoul of the law. Ndamukong Suh had his episode of the "Fast and the Furious", and fellow 2011 rookie Johnny Culbreath  paid a fine after being arrested for possession of the drug in a South Carolina hotel in January.

“I’m a little bit different, I don’t want to put people on blast in front of the team,” Burleson said. “Sometimes you’re going to need to do that. Or a certain guy, certain situations, they need to feel that embarrassment of everybody looking down on them. But some of these guys that we saw on the board, these are good young men and I know that they’re passionate about being professional athletes, it’s just that they make mistakes.”


“Obviously, when you talk to a young guy and he doesn’t listen, the old-school method is physical confrontation,” Burleson said. “I came (into the NFL in) ‘03 and some of these vets, they put your hands on you before they let you damage what they helped build. But I don’t think we’re going to get to that. And also coaches might say we’re just going to sit the guy down, we’re going to take the guy away from him and then see how he responds.”

At this point in the team's development, the Lions don't need players to be acting like hooligans off the field.