All's not well for Detroit Lions, Jim Caldwell

ALLEN PARK, Mich. -- It's not even Columbus Day and already the Detroit Lions are at a crossroads in their season.

The Lions have lost three straight games since rallying to beat the Indianapolis Colts in their season opener, and with a three-game homestand starting this week against the Philadelphia Eagles, they could know by the end of the month whether to start booking their off-season travel.

Coach Jim Caldwell is sitting on one of the hottest coaching seats in the NFL, and first-year general manager Bob Quinn's honeymoon is over as questions are starting to be asked about the team's thin roster.

Caldwell said this week that "inconsistent play" has been the biggest reason for the Lions' struggles this year.

The Lions played four mostly good quarters of offense against the Indianapolis Colts and a half of good football against the Green Bay Packers (when the game was already out of reach), but haven't looked good otherwise on either side of the ball.

The offense didn't score a touchdown in a loss to the hapless Chicago Bears last week, the Lions haven't run the ball well since Ameer Abdullah's season-ending foot injury and they have no pass rush to speak of without Ziggy Ansah.

"Results aren't good, plain and simple," Caldwell said. "But I'm not one to make any excuses and try to hide from facts. I'm more interested in whether or not we're winning or losing. We've been losing of late and that's not good. And that's my responsibility."

Caldwell helped the Lions navigate treacherous waters last year, making a trio of midseason coaching changes to salvage a 6-2 finish after a 1-7 start.

He said he's optimistic that another rebound is in the cards, and players like Glover Quin said it's imperative the turnaround start this week.

"Hasn't been any team that I've ever been around that I haven't felt good about when we prepare and go into ballgames," Caldwell said. "We've got people. We've got players. We've got guys that can get the job done. I feel good about our men, we've just got to perform better."