Bottom line, give (read little) credit to the organization for moving decisively on clearing out Mooch (to the chagrin of us native Michiganders that wanted him to succeed) and hiring a tough minded accomplished football guy like Rod M…with Martz in the mix now, at least things will be entertaining…I mean even if we suck again…we can still watch for signs of a leadership battle between Rod and Mike! Who knows, we may even see a little bitch slap fight some Sunday…

On to the point of my post…you’ve got to agree that job numero uno is to completely re-tool the O-line…draft priority, F.A., whatever…it all starts there. More specifically…

Backus…gone
Raiola…don’t make me laugh
Woody…c ya
Butler…cryin’ over here now
DeMuling…possible keep
Pollard…one more year

Now don’t tell me I’m throwing the baby out with the bathwater here…these guys simply did not produce…if we’re startin’ over, let’s really start over. Rod’s forte is line play…so, let’s go get a group that’s hungry to win and wants to work together. Just build it baby!

Job #2…Martz quickly determines if Joey should goey…much like he got rid of Toney Banks when he arrived in St. Lou…don’t be suprised to see Kurt Warner arrive in Detroit either.

What say you?

In regards to the line, DeMulling and Loverne both have been big mistakes. I read in Pro Football Weekly that scouts think that DeMulling was attempting to play injured. The Lions linemen were supposedly unhappy with former line coach Pat Morris’s schemes. That being said, they quite obviously have a job to do. The biggest failing of the Mariucci regime was an inability to adjust to the abilities and skills of their personnel rather than trying to force a round peg into a square hole.

Damien Woody draws my ire because he has been overweight, attempts to be a team spokesperson, when his performance has been nowhere near what the Lions are paying him for. Re-signing Backus has to be a priority. Between the draft and free agency, their are few viable replacements. I would like to see some quality O-Line depth added, but the Lions have little room to attempt addition by subtraction.

In regards to Joey, if he won’t renegotiate his contract he’s gone. The Lions can ill afford to lose him, yet, they can’t afford to retain his services at his large cost. I shudder to think if the Lions have to find 2 or more QB’s this offseason. Even if the Lions chose to draft Jay Cutler, they would STILL need two QB’s if they didn’t choose to keep Joey. I can’t honestly believe that they’d retain Orlowsky under those circumstances. You need a starter and a semi-dependable backup. Otherwise, 2-14 here we come. I don’t think that Lion’s fans are ready for that nightmare scernario! Thanks Jon…..Steve