The Lions benched Matthew Stafford in the second half of Sunday’s 42-17 loss to the Cardinals, but Dan Orlovsky won’t be starting when the team hosts the Bears next Sunday.
After the game, Lions coach Jim Caldwell compared Stafford’s outing on Sunday to a starting pitcher having a bad day in a baseball game and said he just went to Orlovsky because of the way the game was playing out. Stafford was 20-of-32 for 188 yards, a touchdown and three interceptions before getting the hook and said that Caldwell told him at halftime that he would be replaced if he threw another interception.
Going back to Stafford is understandable, but the problems with the Lions offense and Stafford go well beyond a bad day at the office against the Cardinals. Offensive ineptitude has been a weekly topic of conversation around the Lions and things aren’t getting any better with more time in offensive coordinator Joe Lombardi’s scheme.
Caldwell has resisted calls to take over offensive play calling already this season and said Sunday that there would not be any coaching changes as a result of this week’s thumping. At 0-5 without much reason to think a major winning streak is about to start, it’s hard to believe there won’t be some coming to Detroit a few months from now.