Detroit Lions Weblog

Mariucci Confirms that Joey Harrington is the Starter at QB

“He’s been our starter, he is our starter, and he will be our starter. I don’t know how else to explain it.” These words likely may have been spat out of Coach Steve Mariucci’s mouth. It is no secret that after three seasons Steve Mariucci doesn’t rank among Joey Harrington’s biggest fans. Still, the confirmation of Harrington, regardless of how empty an endorsment it may be, indicates that the Lions coaching staff realizes that the team will face long odds if it has to rely on Jeff Garcia as it’s starting QB.

Even with the team’s inability to score touchdowns in it’s first two pre-season games, Harrington’s passing accuracy thus far is encouraging (14-15 passes completed). Whether you subscribe to the belief that the Lions are using a vanilla red zone package currently is another story, altogether. The team needs to establish now that it can score TD’s and win games. The first two pre-season games may mean little to MOST teams, but for a team with the recent track record of the Lions it is eminently important that they do not lose games to teams like Cleveland, if they are ever going to emerge from the NFL basement.

Garcia will prove to be a capable and confident backup, who if necessary, could be depended upon to replace Joey Harrington. Judging by his recent pre-season performances, though any Lion fan who thinks he is capable of leading the team to NFL prominence (or even 8-8) must not be watching the same QB that I have seen.

With Steve Mariucci’s vote of confidence, it is very important that Joey Harrington doubles his efforts to establish himself as a starting QB and team leader. Everyone has always believed that he lacks the killer instinct, an essential quality, to lead the team to success. Now that Harrington has been awarded the opportunity to step on the throats of his doubters, he must finish the job. The third pre-season game is his opportunity to make a major step towards pushing the Lions forward.