Detroit Lions Weblog

They Were Close Weren’t They?

Several times on Sunday I had to pinch myself. The Lions were playing in a close, meaningful game at the midpoint of the season. As much as I am deeply disappointed with the performance of this team so far, they are just a few plays (review versus Tampa, TD instead of FG against Carolina in 4th Qu., Missed Hanson FG Sunday) from being 6-1. That being said, the Lions have never had a problem with remaining competitive, their difficulties have been in mustering wins in winnable, close games.

The team does suffer from rampant execution problems from it’s players, especially in close games where there is no margin for error. Still, I think this season’s offensive performance reveals that there are systemic problems with their offense. The Lions have yet to score in their first drive of any game, or with 2 minutes to go at the end of a half or end of the game. It is well documented that the first team to score in a game has dramatically increased odds of winning a game. The Lions routinely struggle to throw for 200 yards passing and have difficulties in grinding out 100 yards rushing. Even with poor execution and underperforming personnel, these results are clearly a reflection upon Head Coach/Puppet Master Steve Mariucci and Offensive Coordinator/Puppet Ted Tollner and there painfully, ultra-conservative version of the West Coast offense. Not only is this offense unproductive, it is brutally tedious to watch.

There are potential positives in the future. Word is, that Joey Harrington has looked really good in practice since his benching. Also, the returns of Charles Rogers and Roy Williams can not come a moment too soon. At this point, each player has a great deal left to prove. If they do not have a renewed sense of motivation and purpose from watching games on the sidelines, than they are both destined for future failure as players in this league. Now that the Lions playoff chances have went from possible to largely implausible, maybe the offensive coaching staff will be willing to take a few more chances in attempts to gain victory.

The Lions are 3-4, a game behind the Bears, with the Bears possessing the tiebreaker by virtue of their season sweep of the Lions The Lions will have to win 2 more games than the Bears in the last nine. By viewing the Lions schedule down the stretch, this is highly unlikely. My best case scenario estimate leaves the Lions finishing 4-5 (wins against the Vikings(twice), Saints, and Arizona) which will not be good enough to get the job done in most cases. That being said, the Lions have to begin to find a way to harness the abilities of young players like Kalimba Edwards, Shaun Cody, Roy Williams and Kevin Jones if there is any hope for upcoming seasons. If this coaching staff is not up to the task, so be it. Their is a greater chance of improving through changes on the coaching staff than there is in roster turnover. The immediate challenge is clearer than ever for Steve Mariucci, win or become a TV color commentator.