Packers vs. Lions: 'Changes will need to be made' in Detroit

"It's pretty clear that changes will need to be made next offseason," writes Sean Yuille of SB Nation's Detroit Lions blog, Pride of Detroit. The severity of those changes, according to Yuille, will be determined by how the team wraps up the 2012 season even though they are all but assured of missing the playoffs. Yuille notes that head coach Jim Schwartz would only lose his job if there was a complete collapse, but that several assistant coaches may be offered up as scapegoats for the disappointing season.

The Lions could have easily defeated the Green Bay Packers this past Sunday, but instead dropped to 4-6 on the season after a 24-20 loss. Yuille says that the loss was colored by a failure in execution by the players and cluelessness from the coaching staff, something that has plagued the team all season.

With the 9-1 Houston Texans rumbling into town for a Thanksgiving Day matchup, Yuille is already looking ahead to the 2013 NFL Draft, proclaiming that "the Lions came into this season as a franchise on the rise, but they have been nothing but a flop so far in 2012."