Detroit Lions Weblog

Lions Final Pre-Season Game, Swancutt to IR, and Vines to PUP

The Lion’s have one final pre-season game in which to give a stronger impression that they will be prepared for the season to begin on Sept. 10th. Thus far, the team has appeared to get worse in each successive pre-season game. The offense has sputtered in the last two games and the defense has been inconsistent and susceptible to giving up the big play (sounds vaguely familiar!).

The Lions will be releasing 22 more players soon and I hope that two of the team’s high-priced, first round draft selections exhibit some urgency and provide the team with performances of a quality commensurate with their pay and draft picks coming out of college. It is also imperative that the team’s defense starts to exhibit a pass rush, that MLB Boss Bailey show that he is developing an affinity for his new position, while the rest of the unit struggles to develop health and consistency.

The Lions have been unable to yet develop a consistent ground game. Obviously, Kevin Jones will be playing for a very brief period of time against Buffalo. Brian Calhoun, Shawn Bryson, and Arlen Harris need to carry the load well in Jones’s stead.

Most concerning, is the lack of explosiveness from the Martz offense. Other than a few big plays, this offense has yet to really pose a threat to any opposing defense it has faced. I hope that the team will look sharper in it’s friendly confines and give themselves something to build upon for the opener.

The Lions unfortunately had to place promising DE Bill Swancutt on the injured reserve and he will miss the season due to a knee injury. WR Scottie Vines will miss six games after being placed on the physically unable to perform list. Neither player is a starter, but you hate to lose solid contributors who provide the team with quality depth.

The Lion’s Release 11 Players

The Lion’s released 11 of the 12 players that will need to be released by Tuesday. None of the players who were released were major surprises. They released QB Joel Klatt, K Matt Prater, CB Harrison Smith, FB Will Matthews, WR’s Paris Hamilton and Brett Fischer, TE’s Jed Weaver and Kori Dickerson, P Adam Anderson, DT Marcus Parker, and S and former special teams MVP Vernon Fox.

Prater looked like a kicker who may possibly have a future in the league. Fox was the biggest surprise since he was so effective on special teams. Evidently, his inability to be productive in the defense reduced his value to the Lions. Will Matthews was a highly touted rookie free agent last season, who may still be able to catch on someplace that has more use for depth at FB.

The next round of cuts will be highly scrutinized. Barring any unforseen trades, the Lions will likely be parting ways with several players who have been in Detroit for awhile. Artose Pinner, Charles Rogers, and Corey Schlesinger all are among players whose future role with the team has come into question. There is a chance that none of the three I mentioned will be released, but there will be some surprises among the next batch, it will be inevitable for it to be otherwise.

New Lions Revert to the Old Lions

Last night’s pre-season game against Oakland stands as the penultimate indicator of where the Lions currently reside in implementing their new offensive and defensive systems, as well as shining a bright light on just how difficult it will be for new Head Coach Rod Marinelli to root out the losing culture which permeates this organization.

The third pre-season game is supposed to be the most meaningful of the pre-season. The starting units play a majority of the game. This game reveals a lot about the preparedness of the starting units to lineup against it’s opponents ands compete. In typical Lion fashion, they were not up to the challenge.

I had come to believe that we would no longer see the rear end of a Lion’s defensive back hopelessly chasing the comet tail of a streaking Randy Moss as he burns them for a long distance touchdown. Moss-related nightmares were rekindled for Lion’s fans everywhere, as he proved yet again that the Lion’s secondary is not quite ready for prime time.

When it was announced earlier this week that the Lions would be flying to Oakland, playing the pre-season game and flying back to Detroit all in one day, it was obvious there would be a high potential for the team to lay an egg. The Lion’s don’t have the character or fortitude to meet any sort of adversity or challenge, let alone one where they would be expected to perform in less than ideal circumstances. This may be a harsh assessment considering that this was only a pre-season game, yet, who in their right mind believes after the Lion’s have embarassed themselves the last two weekends that they will be ready to face Seattle in two more weeks?

In an even more discouraging note, the Lion’s left an injured Charles Rogers in Detroit and apparently Mike Williams didn’t play last night, either. I hate to think that the Lions are about to burn three of the last four first round draft picks in less than 6 months. That would represent a flame-out of draft busts that would be unmatched in the history of the NFL. Fasten your seat belts Lion fans, there may be tubulence ahead….

Charlie Sanders is One Step Closer to Canton Enshrinement

The NFL Senior’s committee selected former Lions TE Charlie Sanders to be included for next year’s Hall of Fame selection process. Sanders, who plays a position which is under-represented in the Hall like Closers (relief pitchers) in Baseball, was a ground-breaking player at his position (should be compared to John Mackey and Mike Ditka) who deserves serious consideration for the enshrinement. It is exciting to see a player from Detroit receive their due, even if it is significantly after the fact.

Speaking of Tight End, the Lions recently signed veteran TE Jed Weaver, who formerly played for the Dolphins and Broncos. They also were recently able to activate blocking TE Dan Campbell from the pysically unable to perform list. Hopefully, this will shore up one of the team’s weaker roster groups (due to injury) and increase the competition among the personnel. Tight End is becoming an increasingly more valuable offensive position in the NFL, especially if your Tight End creates coverage matchup problems for LB’s and Safeties who struggle with the increasingly more athletic players at the position.

DE Bill Swancutt Emerges as a Contibutor

George Sipple, of the Detroit Free Press, contributed an article in today’s paper about DE Bill Swancutt , a late round draft pick in the 2005 draft, who has emerged as a productive contributor for the Lion’s 2006 Defensive Line rotation. Swancutt, a former Pac-Ten defensive player of the year, is a maximum effort, overachiever. Swancutt is the type of player that a rebuilding team like the Lions needs to unexpectedly contribute if the team is ever going to rectify it’s dismal situation.

If Kalimba Edwards exhibited the heart and effort of Swancutt, he’d likely be an All-Pro. Up to this point in the pre-season, Edwards has been a mild disappointment. Especially considering the tutelage of Rod Marinelli whose guiding influence should figure heavily into the continued development of Edwards. On the other hand, Swancutt is a player that no one expects a lot from who is continually rising to the challenge and exceeding expectations. That being said, Edwards can be still a major difference-maker with all of his athletic ability, while Swancutt has nowhere near the athletic ability to match Edwards’s.

It is interesting that thus far RB Artose Pinner, purportedly the odd man out in the Lion’s RB personnel, has been the most effective Lion’s runner during the pre-season. It would seem that Pinner is not as expendable as the Lions may have originally figured. The Running Back competition should be highly contested until the very last days of the pre-season.

Lions Disappoint in Second Pre-Season Game

The Lion’s took a regressive step on Friday evening. The same team that looked sharp and promising against Denver last week, looked equally as bumbling against the Browns.

Most concerning for me was the team’s inability to sustain drives. When they did sustain a drive, they often have had to settle for a field goal. This obvious is a cause for chagrin for Lion fans because it has been a nearly annual occurrence that the Lions struggle to score Touchdowns. None of the QB’s looked very good. In particular, with extended playing time, Jon Kitna didn’t show much sign of improvement from the previous week.

This isn’t doom and gloom, the Lion’s have a couple of pre-season games to redeem themselves. I am more concerned about their offense than I was a week ago that’s for certain. I hope that the defense will get some of it’s injured bodies back soon, too.

Does anybody besides me think having a trophy at stake during a pre-season game a little silly. Their is no further motivation to win the game because of a trophy. The coaches want to establish game-winning execution amongst their players, but winning any pre-season game and it’s accompanying trophy probably is of no concern.

Lions Disappoint in Second Pre-Season Game

The Lion’s took a regressive step on Friday evening. The same team that looked sharp and promising against Denver last week, looked equally as bumbling against the Browns.

Most concerning for me was the team’s inability to sustain drives. When they did sustain a drive, they often have had to settle for a field goal. This obvious is a cause for chagrin for Lion fans because it has been a nearly annual occurrence that the Lions struggle to score Touchdowns. None of the QB’s looked very good. In particular, with extended playing time, Jon Kitna didn’t show much sign of improvement from the previous week.

This isn’t doom and gloom, the Lion’s have a couple of pre-season games to redeem themselves. I am more concerned about their offense than I was a week ago that’s for certain. I hope that the defense will get some of it’s injured bodies back soon, too.

Does anybody besides me think having a trophy at stake during a pre-season game a little silly. Their is no further motivation to win the game because of a trophy. The coaches want to establish game-winning execution amongst their players, but winning any pre-season game it’s trophy probably is of no concern.

Mike Martz, More On (or Moron?) Charles Rogers

Detroit News Columnist Bob Wojnowski wrote an interesting piece on Lion’s Offensive Coordinator
Mike Martz that really emphasizes the unique blend of abilities that form a skill set comprised of confidence, innovation and eccentricity which Martz possesses. Martz is a fantastic coach with very high expectations that will be be difficult to meet. The fact that Martz currently draws more media attention than Lion’s Head Coach Rod Marinelli in the long term could eventually lead to a severing of ties between the two. In the short term, the media focus being placed on the mad scientist/egotist extraordinaire that is Martz, is likely a benefit because it will turn our attentions away from the struggles and growing pains that go along with installing an offensive system as difficult and voluminous as Martz’s is.

Immediately during Friday’s game I was impressed by the way that Martz’s plays are designed to attack the defense, utilize each individual player’s strengths, and keep the defense guessing by constantly shifting players and formations. Martz seems to have a knack for drawing on each particular individual’s abilities as opposed to the two previous coaching staff’s tendency to try and hammer square pegs into round holes. He obviously is not a miracle worker, but any improvements that are made will make this team eminently more enjoyable (and more competitive, too) than past teams.

Yahoo’s Dan Wetzel penned an interesting piece on Charles Rogers and his apparent puzzling lack of concern over his NFL future. I hate to belabor the point with C-ROG, but I was very glad to read that there other’s out there who wonder about Rogers’s future NFL career. I am also glad that the reasons why it was necessary to hire a Head Coach like Marinelli are not only readily apparent to Lion fans, but also palpably obvious to an objective voice who has an inside view of what goes behind the scenes. It remains to be seen whether Marinelli’s changes will adhere and lead to positive results.

Charlie Sanders Possible Hall Inductee, Mike O’Hara “Assessing the Team”

It was excellent news to read in today’s Detroit News that Charlie Sanders could possibly be inducted into the Hall of Fame via the Seniors Committee, the same committee which also recently inducted Bennie Friedman and Fritz Pollard. Sanders, who still does scouting for the Lions, revolutionized a position (Tight End) that is becoming increasingly more important in the modern day NFL. Sanders, a renaissance man of sorts, has also authored a book on the Lions and sells his own BBQ sauce.

Mike O’Hara, the excellent Detroit News Lion’s beat writer, wrote an article entitled “Assessing the Lion’s” which highlights the state of the team as it ends it’s two-a-day practices and prepares to go to Cleveland for it’s next pre-season game. Primarily of concern to me is the problems the Lions are currently having at LB and TE. With the injuries of Boss Bailey and Teddy Lehman, it is hard to speculate if their will ever be a healthy, intact, ideal starting LB unit on the field at any time prior to the season. Furthermore, with the injuries to Casey FitzSimmons and Dan Campbell, the Lions may have to keep extra TE’s (Sean McHugh, Converted O-Lineman Dave Pearson) on the roster just to have depth entering the season.

I am encouraged by what I have seen leadership and performance-wise from all three QB’s. I am also excited by the team’s depth at RB. I am cautiously optimistic that Coach Larry Beightol will be a difference maker with team’s Offensive Line, making them much better very quickly. The Defensive Line has always been one of the team’s strengths, so an improved LB corps and Secondary could quickly improve the Lion’s defense.

The Lion’s receiving corps will likely be a strength entering the season, but it still remains enigmatic. With wild cards like Mike Furrey and Shaun Bodiford pressing for playing time, it’s a wonder the team hasn’t already released disappointing former first-rounder, Charles Rogers. Rob Parker, Detroit News Columnist, who has habitually served as a mouthpiece for the more disgruntled members of the organization continues this service with a recent article that speculates that Lion’s could be making a blunder by phasing out Charles Rogers from their future plans. Personally, I think Parker’s point about Rogers going elsewhere and producing is foolish. Rogers has never had the sustained quality of performance to ever bear out that he will be a successful contributor for any football team. Injuries aside, Rogers has been a meteoric failure and really has no one to question but himself. To place any responsibility on the Lions, after the opportunity he has been given by the team, is patently ridiculous. Without a doubt this is one of the worst organizations in professional sports, still they can’t shoulder all of the responsibility for the seeming lack of focus and effort by Rogers. Parker, a shit-stirrer by trade, loves getting everybody’s hackles up over the Lions losing someone like Rogers. As we have all seen, life will go on with out players like Joey Harrington and it most certainly will continue upon the release of Charles Rogers.

FitzSimmons, Campbell injured, McHugh Gets an Opportunity

The Lions Tight End Situation is a bit muddled after the wrist injury sustained by Casey FitzSimmons on Friday night. Dan Campbell, signed during the offseason as a blocking TE, has been injured throughout camp. Marcus Pollard, whose experience in a similar offense in Indy and his strong downfield, vertical pass catching catching skills would seem to make him a natural fit in the Lions new Mike Martz-designed offense, has had a significant reduction in his playing time thus far.

According to an article in the Detroit Free Press by Nicholas Cotsonika, Pollard is an H-Back in the current offense. He will move into the backfield, split out, and play like a Tight End. One thing that was noticeably different Friday, was the amount of shifting formations and motion by the skill players occurred in a much higher frequency than from previous Lion offenses. It was miraculous that the Lions didn’t draw a lot more procedure penalties with all of this constant shifting and movement. Previous Lion teams would have encountered trouble executing all of this deception.

I like the Lion’s utilization of Pollard’s versatility in this manner, but am surprised that he seems to have a more limited role with the team. It appears that Sean McHugh will be given a major opportunity, especially with the injuries to Campbell and FitzSimmons, to assert his role with the team. If McHugh can be moderately effective, the team may be able to avoid trolling the waiver wire to pick up another tight end before the season begins.