The Detroit Lions have long been inhibited from winning the NFC North by the sheer presence of Aaron Rodgers, as he and the Green Bay Packers routinely blocked the route to the top of the division.
But this year, Rodgers' season-derailing collarbone injury provided the Lions with an opportunity to book a second consecutive playoff appearance, something they hadn't done since the 1994 and 1995 campaigns.
With a 26-17 loss to the hapless Cincinnati Bengals in Week 16 officially eliminating the Lions from postseason contention, only a meaningless Week 17 game against the Packers, in which Rodgers won't be playing, remains.
Jim Caldwell has been unable to lead the Lions to a division title in his four years as head coach, boasting only two playoff appearances and no postseason victories. Under his watch, the team has played to a regular-season record of 35-28, and even Caldwell himself has come to grips with the quality of his club.
"We're just a little bit above average, and a little bit above average is not good enough," he said, according to Kyle Meinke of mlive.com. "There's no bowl games in this league and so we got to get better, we got to get better in every area. It's a team sport and there's not anything that we just absolutely excelled at I think all across the board."
After making quarterback Matthew Stafford the highest-paid player in the league this offseason with a five-year, $136-million contract (including $92 million in guaranteed money), the Lions watched as Case Keenum and his one-year, $2-million contract led the Minnesota Vikings to the top seed in the division and a likely first-round bye.
Stafford has certainly been 'just a little bit above average' this season, as he ranks as Pro Football Focus' No. 15 quarterback, while Keenum sits in a tie with the barely-qualified Rodgers for ninth.
Here's a look at how Stafford and Keenum compare head-to-head:
| Name | Games | CMP% | YDS | AVG |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Stafford | 15 | 65.5 | 4123 | 7.69 |
| Keenum | 14 | 67.3 | 3358 | 7.43 |
Stafford sports a TD:INT ratio of 26:10 while Keenum owns a split of 21:7.
Though Keenum isn't the benchmark by which the NFL's highest-paid quarterback should be judged, it's worth noting the Vikings signal-caller has benefited from a superior support system in his running backs and an offensive line that provides him an additional average of 0.13 seconds to throw, according to Next Gen Stats.
The Lions lost offensive tackles Greg Robinson and Rick Wagner for the remainder of the season on Nov. 10 and Dec. 3, respectively, while center Travis Swanson has been out since Dec. 12 with a concussion. In their absence, tackles Taylor Decker and Corey Robinson have graded very poorly by PFF.
Detroit's offensive line as a whole has allowed 89 quarterback hits this season, ranking as the 13th-most in the NFL.
Though impacted by the flimsy offensive line, the Lions' most obvious area of weakness has long been the running game.
Barring a miraculous Week 17 performance, they will finish last in total team rushing yards for the second time in Caldwell's four-year tenure. The Lions haven't finished above the bottom five in that category, nor have they rushed for more than 1,422 yards or 11 touchdowns as a team since Caldwell took the reins.
The status of the coach's contract remains a mess. There were offseason reports the Lions signed him to a multi-year contract extension, but they reportedly chose to announce it months later, according to Dave Birkett of the Detroit Free Press.
It's also been recently reported the deal was just for one more season, with only 2018 containing guaranteed money, according to Justin Rogers of The Detroit News.
In the past, it's been easy for the Lions to blame Rodgers and Co. for their shortcomings, with the superstar quarterback acting as an impossible hurdle. But without that competition this season, it's time for Detroit to take accountability for its shortcomings and move on from Caldwell.
The pressure will then fall on general manager Bob Quinn, as the Lions need to make some serious improvements with the battle for the NFC North likely only getting tougher again in 2018.
