ARLINGTON, Texas – When it was over and the Detroit Lions had wrapped an evening looking nothing like a team worthy of sharing a playoff bracket with the Dallas Cowboys, head coach Jim Caldwell reached deep into a well of vague descriptors.

Detroit abandoned a surprisingly successful running game against Dallas because things changed. No further explanation was deemed necessary. The 42-21 score? It was more lopsided than expected because of turnovers/penalties/mistakes (which, as an aside, tend to be factors that make one NFL team dramatically better than another). And now, with the Green Bay Packers game ahead in a pivotal season finale, the Lions’ postgame on Monday night felt like something from a team that thinks it’s better than it actually is.

View photos Jim Caldwell and the Lions have blown a 2.5-game lead in the division this month. (Getty Images) More

Seriously, there seemed to be a sense of accomplishment for hanging with the Dallas Cowboys and doing some good things. You know, before Dallas woke up and clubbed Detroit by three touchdowns in the second half. If anything spoke volumes about where Detroit is, it was listening to anyone on the team try to save some face by speaking about the first-half positives.

Here’s a reality check: When a team loses 42-21, nobody cares if it hung around for a half. It ended in a blowout loss. That’s what matters.

And here’s another spoonful of reality: If Lions general manager Bob Quinn is as smart and organized as his NFL backers say he is, the Week 17 finale against the Packers should be treated like a critical crossroads for Caldwell. It should be seen as a playoff game with jobs on the line because what happens against the Packers could very well be the difference between taking a tangible step forward or wasting another prime year in the career of franchise quarterback Matthew Stafford.

And while he’s at it, Quinn should know right now: Monday’s loss to Dallas is precisely why longtime Lions fans bang their heads against a wall annually. The defeat was another iteration of a decades-long tease, an occasional velvet rut that promises some hope and then ends in catastrophic disappointment. That’s what this season would be if Detroit went from holding the No. 2 seed in postseason positioning and then fell completely out of the playoff bracket.

Forget that nobody expected much from the Lions this season. The August lament means nothing now. All that matters are the lofty expectations when the calendar turned to December. Especially in a watered-down NFC that has offered opportunities from top to bottom. For all his praised positives as a great man and good head coach, Caldwell should have been able to commandeer this roster and taken advantage of that. Especially as momentum built in the last quarter of the season. Ultimately, that’s his job as a likable coach whom the players supposedly connect with on a deep level – to guide the roster and summon them to finish.

View photos Matthew Stafford’s interception helped the Cowboys’ 21-0 run in the second half against the Lions. (Getty Images) More

Right now, that’s not happening.

Injuries or not, the 9-4 record of early December – even if it was ballooned by mediocre teams – put Detroit into a spot to seize on opportunity. And since then, the Lions have disappointed. First in a 17-6 loss to a New York Giants team that practically tried to force-feed Detroit a victory. And then to a Cowboys club that had nothing to play for beyond fine-tuning and personal pride.

Maybe that’s what makes Monday night’s loss such an ugly wart for Caldwell. His team had everything to play for, and the best it could muster was hanging around for a half and then getting outclassed when it mattered most. That’s surely not the way Caldwell or the rest of the Detroit staff wants Monday to be seen, but that’s reality.

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