Detroit Lions Weblog

Martz, “Mooch”, “Motor City” Bowl, and the “Hue” and Cry?

As it is by now well documented, Mike Martz turned down the Lions offensive coordinator job. Martz purportedly could not agree with the Lions on the monetary terms of his contract. Their are also rumors floating around that the Lions got cold feet over Martz’s abrasive demeanor and were concerned about his ability to interact with the other coaches and his superiors in the front office. Their are still reports being made that the Lions may have hired former Rams running backs coach Wilbert Montgomery and that the Martz hiring may not be completely out of the woods, yet.

The conclusion to this drama is all too bad, even if I had serious concerns about the Martz hiring and the ability of the Lion’s personnel to perform within his offense, I was still readying myself to imagine the fan response to the Lions going out and signing free agent QB Jamie Martin (or maybe even Jeff Smoker?) to backup Joey Harrington. I also was wondering how a sample sports call placed by Kevin Jones’s father would possibly sound after Martz had called under 10 rushing plays for Jones in consecutive games. Doesn’t look like we’ll get that opportunity at this point. Also, this saga reveals ever so strongly that the Lions organization still has no sense of direction. The Lions hire a tough-minded coach who plays “smash mouth” football. Then they proceed to pursue an offensive coordinator who offensive scheme consists of a more finesse, Gillman/”Air Coryell”-styled pass heavy game plan. Then the discussions between the two parties break drown and the two parties are each reporting different reasons why the talks have stopped. Then the Lion’s reportedly come back to the candidate and ask if they would like to be their escort to the dance again? One has to strongly hope that somehow these events aren’t portent to what is to come for the Lion’s in the future.

The Lions reportedly still have the Bengal’s receivers coach Hue Jackson and the Packer’s Offensive coordinator Tim Rossley on the radar. The fact that Rossley, a “West Coast” devotee, is on the radar is EXCEEDINGLY worrisome. The last thing that the Lion’s need is to bring in another misguided “West Coast” offense disciple as the Lion’s offense continues to languish. I strongly believe that a system change is in order.

Steve Mariucci recently broke his silence. He has said that he won’t be coaching for a “long time” (or at least until the Michigan State job becomes available after next season) at a recent Piston’s game. He also was interviewed by Frank Beckmann and among other comments voiced his support for Joey Harrington. What?!? After the passive/aggressive relationship Mooch shared with Harrington publicly and privately why would he make these comments now? I agree with Mooch, that Joey is in fact the Lion’s best option at QB going into next season, but why wasn’t Harrington deserving of a similar chance while Mariucci had the reins to the team? Even stranger, Mooch and Marinelli coached together at Cal. Mooch even called Marinelli and wished his congratulations upon his hiring. I know that the coaching world is extremely inbred and rife with nepotism, but can there be any stranger bedfellows than Mariucci and Marinelli?

The Super Bowl is being played in Detroit, you know, Jerome Bettis’s hometown, in case you haven’t heard. Hopefully, after the two week buildup, the game will live up to it’s billing. Personally, I think that the Steelers will win. I am hoping that a “Stillers” victory will indirectly help the Lions future. I think that if the Steelers win, it will effectively break the “Bobby Layne/Buddy Parker” curse that was placed on the Lion’s organization in 1958 when the team allowed Parker to defect to one of the league’s worst franchises and eventually traded Parker’s compatriot, Layne, to the same destination. The Lions have continued the once disappointing Steeler tradition of being a doomed franchise from the moment these events occured.

If the Steeler’s get out to an early lead, like they have in their last playoff games, they will enjoy similar results. It is amazing the 180 degree turn the media has done in the last two weeks. It seemed that everybody strongly believed that the Steelers were overwhelming favorites, now that isn’t so. I think that even with the Seahawks powerful O-Line and stalwarts Matt Hasselbeck and Shaun Alexander, the Steelers will slow down the Seahawks offense. In turn, as effective as the undersized Seahawk defense has been, I think the size of the Steeler’s O-Line and it’s rushing attack will grind down the Seahawks if the Steeler’s mange to gain an early lead.

Steelers 24 Seahawks 17