Head Coach Jim Schwartz had more than a little emotion as he approached the podium following Detroit’s 48-3 loss at Baltimore.
“It’s not us, it’s not going to be us and there’s going to be some accountability for this,” he said.
The Lions’ lopsided loss to the Baltimore Ravens was unexpected by Schwartz. He went into this game confident in the team’s preparation through the week and the night prior to the game.
But Detroit didn’t start out well, unable to put points on the board until the second quarter. In the meantime, Ravens running back Ray Rice was having plenty of success for Baltimore, finishing the first half with nine carries for 151 yards and one touchdown.
Schwartz said Rice gave the team nothing more than he’d expected.
“Just from running around us and running through us,” he said. “I think we had one time where we had a missed assignment where we gave up something, but he’s their leading rusher; he’s their leading receiver. We know what number he wears.
“It wasn’t a surprise that they were giving him the ball and we did a poor job of handling him.”
Without hesitation, Schwartz said Sunday’s loss was the team’s worst performance of the season.
“We have fought and we have been shorthanded at times,” he said. “We have had issues, but we have fought and we have battled and we have had better performances.”
Because of the frustration by Schwartz and his desire to make sure things are set right after this game, he gave the players Monday off so the coaches could review the film.
“I might watch this tape 10 times,” he said.
All players are still required to come in and lift and injured players must come in to get treatment, but there will be no Monday afternoon film sessions.
“We’re going to need some time to make sure that this doesn’t happen to us again,” said Schwartz. “I know there’s issues, I know there’s injuries, I know there’s all those different things and everything else, but we have to make a stand and this is unacceptable.”
INJURY UPDATE
Even with the disappointment regarding the team’s performance, the most difficult blow was the significant knee injury to second-year running back 
Smith, Schwartz said, was “one of the few bright spots in this game.”
“Kevin’s a tough player and was playing his butt off,” said Schwartz. “He wasn’t quitting. He was trying to gain yards, he was trying to get first downs; he was trying to get in the endzone as that game was winding down.”
Smith left the game early in the fourth quarter, injuring his knee when he was trying to cut back to gain more after already getting 15 yards on a pass from
After he fell, Smith says he was in immediate pain.
“I have to get tested tomorrow,” he said. “It doesn't feel good."
When asked if he could put into words what this was like for him, Smith responded with the word “adversity.”
“There's always going to be things in your way on your way to success,” he said. “I'm tough enough to fight through whatever's going to happen and I'll find out what's going to happen and I'll get better real fast. Whatever happens, happens."
