Detroit Lions Weblog

R.I.P. 2005 Lions NFL season

It was kind of good, while it lasted, sort of. That’s right folks, the Lions are/will be completely eliminated from playoff contention after it loses it’s next game to Atlanta on Thursday. Sunday’s loss was disappointing, if not unexpected. Really, what is there to discuss? Will Steve Mariucci survive the fatal denouement of this season? Will Charles Rogers and the Lions kiss and makeup after their aggrievance over the meager $10 Million of Rogers’s signing bonus? Does anybody really care about Jeff/Joey or Mike McMahon for that matter,at this point?

Since there no longer remains a mystery to this season’s outcome, and if the Lions are in the mood to repair past grievances, why not name Defensive Coordinator Dick Jauron as interim head coach? After Sunday’s Flag Fiesta in Texas and the horribly pasted-on, angryman-scowl that Steve Mariucci was affecting for television cameras as he cluelessly marched the sidelines on Sunday, is there anybody left who feels with any measure of confidence that Mooch will be the guy to help turn this team around in the future? Even in a best-case scenario, where the Lions are able to make the incremental improvement of finishing their season 7-9 (finishing 3-3, highly unlikely), what substantive improvement will this organization really have attained this year?

Even with a few of the Lion’s penalties being questionable in nature on Sunday, is there any question which team is: better coached? more disciplined? obtaining the most output from the potential of it’s players on it’s roster? At this stage, all of these glaring inequities make it apparent that not only was this season a major lost opportunity (could have easily defeated three of the teams in their six losses and be in the thick of the playoff hunt), it has been an unmitigated organizational failure.

Right now is the perfect opportunity for the Lions to attempt, like it has done so often in the past, to repair the damages that have been incurred from this season’s setbacks and move forward from them. Steve Mariucci, like Bill Callahan, Dave Wannstedt, and several others before him, can now set upon his future course as a nice-guy Head Coach at a major college program and perennially dash the hopes of their well-heeled alumnus who will be privy to his gross mismanagent of personnel and pathetically flaccid offensive system like Lions fans have been for several seasons now.

I want the Lions to win all 6 of their remaining games. Do I believe it is likely? I would be fibbing if I said I thought that they will win more than two of their six remaining games. If the W.C. Ford’s intend on sticking with team president Matt Millen for the duration of his contract extension, than they owe it to him, and to us as loyal Lions fans, to move forward and begin their evaluation process on the players who are currently on their roster and to begin their search for a replacement coaching staff so that rather than the uninformed, rash decisions that have been made with their last two head coaching hires, they can move forward with a detailed, focused search for the prospective head coach who can best rehabilitate their current state and help them to move forward.

The Charles Rogers grievance case is a non-issue. He will not have to turn over $10 M of his signing bonus because the NFLPA, his agent and lawyers will fight unceasingly on his behalf. I really don’t fault the Lions for attempting to recoup their losses in this matter. The move to get the money back from Rogers does appear petty and a little silly, especially when they appear to be pinning a certain amount of this season’s fading hopes on his going out and performing on Sunday’s with a certain amount of consistency. Rogers screwed up with his use of illegal drugs and blew a major life opportunity, one most of us will never ever have the fortune of having the ability to be able to even dream of, and no amount of punishment by the Lions or the NFL can fix that loss.