Detroit Lions Weblog

All Joey, All the Time (92.1/92.7 WQTX FM interviews)

Jim Brandstatter, color commentator for the Detroit Lions, was a guest this morning on the Landau & Chase show this morning. Invariably, as you would expect, the discussion mostly featured talk about the performance of “Champagne” Joey Harrington:

Brandstatter told the hosts that he wondered if Joey was struggling with his confidence. He thinks that Harrington is “gripping the ball too tight” and being too inconsistent. He stated that early on, the coaches seemd to think that if they could consistently establish the run that it would open all kinds of opportunities in the passing game. The Hosts asked Brandstatter who he thought Mariucci should start this Sunday and for the remainder of the season. He believes they should continue to play Harrington, if they do decide to make a change the team could be “playing with fire”. He said that even if McMahon could give them a sort of lift, that the last thing this team needs is a quarterback controversy. Brandstatter also thinks Harrington gives the Lions a better chance to win even if McMahon provides an interesting option. The hosts then questioned him about the play of Kevin Jones. Brandstatter said that Jones has become more patient, he’s letting the blocks develop and exploding through the hole instead of trying to bounce out to the outside and beat the defense to the edge. He also said that is has become obvious that the coaching staff is finally willing to commit to the running game, at least more so than earlier in the season. Brandstatter said that on Sunday, in Lambeau, the receivers should have been excited their were some instances where they were being covered man-to-man and they didn’t make the most of those opportunities. Brandstatter also said they need to “come down” with the ball more often when they are open, “not to exonerate Joey”. Brandstatter also stated that the receivers and QB have to work hard to help each other out. No QB throws every pass perfectly, if the receivers don’t make plays the QB will start “pressing”. The hosts asked Brandstatter when he thought things should begin to change in this rebuilding process? Brandstatter said if things don’t start to turn around next year that people are going to become real impatient. If the Lions are not playoff contenders next year the organization will have to start questioning the direction of the process. Brandstatter also stated that he believed their defense was really hurt by the loss of Boss Bailey for the season. With Bailey’s skills and abilities he is a “difference maker”. He believed that it hurt early on in the season for the Lions to have to depend on the play of Alex Lewis and Teddy Lehman, even though each player has improved dramatically in the process.

Later in the morning, Fred Heuman had the Lions play by play voice, Mark Champion, guesting to discuss many of the same topics:

Heuman stated that initially he was very excited about the draft of Harrington. He qualifies that by saying that each time he sees Harrington play, he likes him less and less as a player. He said also that Rob Rubick mentioned yesterday that receivers are partly resposible for Joey’s slump he wanted to know Champion’s feelings on Harrington. Champion responded by stating that he is not sure “of the spark Harrington provides in the huddle.” Champion also mentioned he wondered about Harrington’s mechanics mentioning that even in practice Joey has a tendency to throw behind his receivers. He thinks that receivers are beginning to get frustrated and posssibly losing their concentration. He says the whole thing is becoming increasingly perplexing to Mariucci, because they have lately established one of the best running games in the league (at least in the first half of games, wink) and yet are so unsuccessful on offense. Champion also mentioned that if the Lions believe they are going to decide to keep Mike McMahon next season that maybe now is the time to go to him as the starting QB. If they are not going to keep McMahon, all they will be doing is providing him with the opportunity to audition for another team. He said that it might be necessary to make the move just to shut Harrington down for the year so that he can let go of any stress or frustration he may be suffering from. One point Champion stressed about the play of Harrington was that overall, his stats aren’t that bad. He just questions Harrington’s ability to make plays when plays need to be made (i.e the red zone, third downs) Champion said that he thinks that may be a teamwide issue. He emphasized the importance of Keith Smith’s dropped interception that would have almost surely been a touchdown and momentum defining play in the game. He also said that sometimes when QB’s are out of sync, it really affects the receivers. He feels that dissension is beginning to emerge in the locker room over Harrington’s play. In particular as an example, he mentions the reaction of an unnamed receiver to Harrington Sunday even though he refused to mention specifics. Champion also stated that the Lions have sorely missed Charles Rogers and that he believed he and Harrington had developed a special rapport.

My favorite comment from the last 24 hours in regards to Harrington came on Steve Szaban’s Fox Sports show. He had a guest, NFL insider from USA Today, Larry Weissman. They were taking calls from callers in regards to players, teams, etc. A caller from Detroit asked Weissman about Harrington. Weissman, said that all season he had come to Harrington’s defense but now is starting to give up on him. He said that Harrington “plays like a guy wearing paper trousers.” I don’t really know what that meant but it was sure funny!