Colts vs. Lions, Week 13: Detroit riding demoralizing four-game losing streak

Once again unable to execute down the stretch in order to leave the field with a victory, the Detroit Lions dropped to an uncomfortable 4-8 record on Sunday afternoon after a disheartening last-second loss to Indianapolis.

Allowing the Colts to win the game on the final play was a frustrating sight, one that has unfortunately been all too common for Detroit fans this season. As Sean Yuille of Pride of Detroit notes, the Lions have continued to let games slip away almost with an eery-level of consistency over the last few weeks:

The Lions may be finding new ways to lose games, but the general script is the same. They can't pull away when given opportunity after opportunity on offense, forcing the defense to come up with a key stop. The defense folds under pressure, allowing the opposing team to come back and win. It happened against the Green Bay Packers a couple weeks ago and the Houston Texans on Thanksgiving, and it happened on Sunday against the Colts.

Now at 4-8, the Lions are on the verge of completely collapsing as a team. They have lost four consecutive games, and next week the Lions have to go to Lambeau Field to take on the Packers on Sunday Night Football. Unless the Lions find a way to win their first road game against the Packers since 1991, that streak will grow to five consecutive losses.

Less than one month ago the Lions were the epitome of a buy-low candidate at 4-4 overall. Now, Jim Schwartz's team sits so far out of the NFC playoff race that only two teams in the conference currently have less wins on the season. Even though a strong finish to the year may help eliminate the sour taste in everyone's mouths, the Lions' inability to finish games properly is sure to be the underlying theme of Detroit's 2012-13 campaign.