Detroit Lions finish December collapse in loss to Giants

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The Detroit Lions completed their free fall out of playoff contention with a 23-20 overtime loss to theNew York Giants on Sunday at Ford Field.

Here's what we learned:

1. The end is near for Jim Schwartz. The Lions coach needed to guide his team to the playoffs to keep his job -- something that's obviously not happening. Detroit has missed the postseason in four of five seasons under Schwartz. Changes are coming.

2. Matthew Stafford won't be part of those changes in Detroit. Still, there's no hiding the fact that Stafford stunk out the joint in back-to-back games with his team's season on the line. Stafford didn't have a touchdown pass and threw a fourth-quarter pick six that swung the game. Stafford's career is circling a cul de sac.

3. Reggie Bush was supposed to set all kinds of career highs playing in Detroit's dynamic offense. In reality, lost fumbles is the only category in which Bush has set a new standard. He's up to four after putting another one on the turf Sunday. Fox cameras showed Bush looking forlorn on the sideline. He couldn't have felt much better after watching Joique Bell handle the bulk of the workload the rest of the game.

4. Will Hill's game-tying pick six saved the Giants' bacon. Eli Manning and Co. were doing nothing on offense in the second half, and New York was in desperate need for a big play on defense or special teams. Hill got it done.

5. When you have a Megatron on your team, why are you running out the clock in a tie game with 23 seconds to play and two timeouts? The Lionsplayed scared and got what they deserved.