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Lions coach Jim Schwartz said he would not call the season a failure. Detroit is 7-8 and eliminated from the playoffs. (Mike Mulholland | MLive.com)

ALLEN PARK -- The Detroit Lions had playoff aspirations this year. They will fall short after another colossal second-half meltdown.

But coach Jim Schwartz insists this season is not a failure.

"We didn't make the playoffs, and that's obviously anybody's goal. We didn't achieve that goal. But I don't know if I'd be as strong to call it a failure," Schwartz said Monday during his weekly news conference.

The Lions started 6-3 and were alone atop the NFC North. But they've since been caught from behind by both Chicago and Green Bay, even though both clubs have a losing record over the past five weeks.

Detroit has lost five of its past six games, leaving it at 7-8 and eliminated from the playoffs. It concludes the season Sunday in Minnesota, and then it's possible Schwartz will be fired after back-to-back seasons that fell short of expectations.

Schwartz acknowledges the Lions didn't get the job done this year, but refused to characterize it as a failure. His logic: he has a strong definition for the word.

"I don't want to get philosophical on the grading or anything like that, but when I hear the word failure, I think more 'abject failure,'" Schwartz said. "Nothing goes right. That's the connotation I get from it. Maybe you feel a little bit different. But I don't feel that with our team.

"I'm still proud of our team. Our team came to battle and they've played through the games. Just came up a play short. If somebody else wants to term that a failure, then that's certainly their right to. But I'm still a half-full guy."

Asked specifically whether the Lions failed in the past six weeks, when they went 1-5 and lost five fourth-quarter leads, Schwartz suggested the media was reaching.

"We're now into parsing. Bill Clinton's 'it depends on what your definition of is is,'" Schwartz said. "I mean, here's the thing: As a head coach standing up here, I have a hard time going down into our locker room with our players and calling them a failure. It's not what I believe.

"Maybe my connotation of the word is a lot stronger than what you guys are thinking. We haven't accomplished what we wanted to accomplish, and I'll just leave it at that."