DETROIT — Following the Lions is like following the stock market. You watch all the losses, and you wonder: Where's the bottom?

Things look like they will get worse before they get better. Forecasts for this holiday season are grim. The Lions' remaining opponents have a combined record of 40-23. That ties the Lions with the New York Giants for the toughest remaining schedule in the NFL, according to STATS.

It seems so unfair. The Giants are 8-1 and shooting for their second straight Super Bowl championship. The Lions are 0-9, the only winless team in the league, trying to avoid becoming the first to go 0-16.

The Lions have mismanaged themselves into this mess. But their problems are now exacerbated by forces beyond their control. Sound familiar?

Where's their bailout?

The Lions might not get one from any of their opponents.

The three with the best records come in the next three games — Carolina (7-2), Tampa Bay (6-3) and Tennessee (9-0). It will be too early for those teams to have clinched a playoff seed and rest some of their best players.

The Titans have perfect timing. They come to Detroit on Thanksgiving Day. Are they going to let their guard down enough for the Lions to pull off a miracle upset on national television?

After that, the Lions play Minnesota (5-4), Indianapolis (5-4), New Orleans (4-5) and Green Bay (4-5). All of those teams — except the Saints, perhaps — are fighting for playoff spots and could be up until the end.

Even if the Saints and Packers fall out of the playoff picture and have nothing for which to play, the Lions will have it tough. The Saints rank first in total offense; the Lions rank second-worst in total defense. The Packers will be at home; the Lions haven't won in Wisconsin since 1991.

Some Detroiters are hoping the Lions go 0-16. The Lions are amid an eight-year, 31-90 depression. The theory is that if they crash completely, they will hit rock bottom. Owner William Clay Ford will be forced to clean house, and the franchise will have nowhere to go but up.

But no matter how the Lions finish and what they do in the off-season, there are no guarantees. As with the economy, the cause of this crisis was a series of bad decisions, and bailout or not bailout, the only real solution is a series of good decisions.

After Sunday's 38-14 loss to Jacksonville, chief operating officer Tom Lewand said: "It's not about what's popular. It's about what's right."

Absolutely. The Lions have tried popular in the past. The prime example is the hiring of coach Steve Mariucci, the Michigan native who had taken San Francisco to the playoffs. It didn't work.

The Lions could take the highly unpopular approach of bringing back all, most or some of the current administration, thinking former president Matt Millen was the problem. Millen never had a plan. Now that he has been fired, the Lions think they have one and can implement it.

But if they go that route, they had better be right. They will have no honeymoon period and no benefit of the doubt. They will have a harder time convincing people — from free agents to fans — that things are about to change.

The truth is, the Lions have tried all kinds of approaches over the years — big names and no-names, proven winners and supposed up-and-comers, disciplinarians and players' coaches. There are all kinds of ways to do it wrong, just as there are all kinds of ways to do it right.

Teams like Oakland, Detroit and St. Louis have made changes in recent years and continued to struggle — or even gotten worse. Miami (1-15) and Atlanta (4-12) struggled badly last year. They did it differently, but both cleaned house and tinkered with their rosters. Now the Dolphins (5-4) and Falcons (6-3) have winning records.

When stocks are as low as they are today, there is tremendous opportunity — and tremendous risk. Invest in the right ones, and your fortunes can soar. Invest in the wrong ones, and you can go broke.