Schwartz Makes No Excuses, Says 'Last Year Wasn't A Fluke Year'
By Ashley Dunkak
@AshleyDunkak
ALLEN PARK (CBS DETROIT) – Detroit Lions head coach Jim Schwartz made a solid characterization Thursday of a 2012 Lions season in which eight of Detroit's 12 losses came by a touchdown or less.
"It was sort of a quintessential 'close but no cigar'-type season," Schwartz said. "We had a lot of close games we played, and we just came out on the wrong side of those."
That said, Schwartz did not make a case that the Lions were better in 2012 than their paltry 4-12 record indicated.
"Last year wasn't a fluke year," he said. "You are what your record says you are. We were 4-12 last year."
Schwartz attributed the team's struggles partly to off-field distractions, partly to injuries and partly to an unimpressive turnover margin.
"We fumbled the ball more on offense," Schwartz said, "We saw our takeaways decrease by 50 percent. That's traditionally been the strongest determination of wins and losses in the NFL has been turnovers. That's an area we need to do a better job."
The Lions also contended with questions about seven different off-field incidents between January and July 2012.
Schwartz also lamented the unavailability of some younger players who saw limited action in 2012 because of injuries.
"The last couple years, we've missed some opportunities to have some contributions from rookies," Schwartz said. "We drafted some good players that could have contributed more."
The coach expects improvements in all those facets for 2013.
First, the Lions have mostly kept their noses clean away from the field, with two arrests this off-season compared to seven last off-season.
Next, Schwartz said the defensive line reminds him of the 2011 unit that picked up the slack for an injury-riddled secondary and helped carry the team to its first playoff game since 1999. Schwartz credited that 2011 group with causing many of the turnovers that helped boost the Lions' turnover margin that year, and his hope is that this year's defensive line can make a similar impact.
Last but not least, the coach has high expectations for its rookies.
"We'll need contributions from those guys," Schwartz said. "They weren't drafted to find their way and redshirt and things like that. They were drafted with very specific purpose in mind.
"All of them showed the reason that they were drafted and they've all shown that they can help us," Schwartz added. "It's a lot easier to judge the guys that have been around for five, six, longer years because they have a track record. Those guys have talent, but they don't have a track record yet. They need to establish that over the course of training camp."
Schwartz said he is more confident going into this season than he has been in any of his four previous years with the Lions.
"We made some good acquisitions as a team, both in the draft and in free agency," Schwartz said. "We're on track to get a lot of players back from injury that missed significant time last year, and I think that just from a team standpoint, we're in a better spot."
