![]() ![]() They even drafted Mikel Leshoure to take his place (and then some). Smith was a restricted free agent and could have been tendered for relatively cheap, but the Lions decided instead to part ways with him entirely. I know I said no personnel moves, but this one is a little different. Instead, it invoked memories of the Marinelli era in which every short-yardage situation consisted of the entire offensive line and ball-carrier simply falling down a yard short of the line of scrimmage. Had Best broken through and picked up the first down, it would have been "gutsy." This is a bad decision because it failed. That said, this is one of those funny things about criticizing coaching decisions (especially play calls). In other words, there wasn't as much precedent for the imminent failure of that play. ![]() This was Best's second game as a rookie, he looked like an unstoppable machine at the time, he was fully healthy, and the inability of anyone on the team to execute a power-run scheme was not yet as glaringly obvious then as it is now. It's also that they were in field-goal range and lost that game by 3 points. It's that they ran the exact same play that failed on 3rd-and-1: Jahvid Best, straight up the middle. See, it isn't just that the Lions didn't convert on 4th-and-1. Schwartz's coaching decisions are about what he does with the guys he has and the situations he has in games.īut because Schwartz is a quality head coach, you'll notice two things right away: There aren't very many things to complain about, and the stuff there is to complain about isn't that bad.Īfter all, Schwartz never took the wind in overtime.įar be it from me to criticize a coach for going for it on fourth down against a team that has been tough to stop on offense. Schwartz certainly had a hand in those, but those weren't strictly his decisions, and they weren't coaching decisions. Of course, I'm not talking about draft picks, free-agent signings or other personnel moves. But like clockwork, I am here to point out some of the bigger coaching gaffes in Schwartz's young head-coaching career. When you make hundreds of decisions a day, that's bound to happen. Schwartz is a good coach, but he has made mistakes like any other coach. Draft well, build well, coach well, win games, make playoffs, answer questions about potential mistakes. This is pretty much standard procedure for any successful head coach. Since taking over as head coach of an 0-16 team in 2009, Schwartz has steadily improved the quality of players on the team, installed effective schemes on both sides of the ball, eliminated the much-discussed "culture of losing," taken the team to the playoffs and gotten himself second-guessed a bunch of times in the process. Jim Schwartz has brought two things to the Detroit Lions since 2009: talent and controversy. ![]()
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