How can the Detroit Lions be 4-12 team?

Let’s go inside some shocking numbers:

Slow starts

The Lions never had the lead at halftime of a game this year until Week 9 at lowly Jacksonville.

That alone sets off an alarm regarding preparation and execution. It shows the Lions coaches were getting out-coached going into and during games — that the team was not being put in the best position to win each week. It shows that the coaches were not using their talent the way they should’ve.

Now, this is stunning, considering the Lions were 10-6 and a playoff team a year ago. It also shows that last year was nothing but a fluke that sucked us all in again.

Not leading at halftime until Week 9 also takes away the injury excuse some have rolled out of Allen Park the past month in an attempt to divert us from the true ugliness of this season.

Not addressing needs

The Lions knew Jahvid Best was damaged goods when they drafted him. For the team to never address the need to replace Best after he had multiple concussions last season is on general manager Mayhew and coach Jim Schwartz.

To hear the Lions coach complain about a revolving secondary this year as part of the problem after he watched his secondary cost him a playoff win last year is just a man trying to cover up the fact the team didn’t use the offseason to get better.

How did they not address these needs in the draft and free agency? Maybe they were thinking like a lot of us, that with a healthy Matthew Stafford and Calvin Johnson, there was no way the Lions wouldn’t make the playoffs again.

They let seven months go by without filling their holes to take the franchise to the next level. To look back at a draft where not one pick is an impact player, it highlights the Lions’ problems in the front office.

The offseason arrest blotter and Mayhew talking about marijuana as part of this new generation of football players was another flag most of us missed.

We all were so jacked after last season that the bad years of Lions football were behind us. We trusted Schwartz, his staff and the front office to make the Lions a champion. This season proves changes have to be made. The numbers don’t lie.

Losing streak

An eight-game losing streak to end the season — how does that happen when you have Ndamukong Suh, Stafford and Johnson?

Trying to mask the issues with how productive the offense has been this year is absurd. We all see the yardage when the Lions are down big. Stafford has regressed from a year ago. Where is the coach to make him better?

I think Suh seems unmotivated and underutilized at times.

Johnson is a future Hall of Famer. Why the Lions can’t design more end zone plays for him is an other alarm as to the ability of this coaching staff to get the most out of its players.

Homefield advantage?

The Lions were 2-6 this season at Ford Field. Again, how does this happen when, a year ago, it was one of the toughest places to play?

Preparation and execution. It’s on the coaches and players.

The Lions finished with six fewer wins than a year ago. It’s all you need to know to realize Mayhew and Schwartz are in over their heads on building a consistent winning franchise.

Major changes are needed to coach, motivate and teach Stafford, Johnson and Suh.

Schwartz and Mayhew had their chance.

— Bill Simonson is host of "The Huge Show," a syndicated radio sports talk show broadcast statewide