Detroit Lions Weblog

Coach Marinelli Falls on His Sword, “Big” Mike Spouts Off

Immediately following Sunday’s debacle in Chicago, Lion’s Head Coach Rod Marinelli symbolically “fell on the sword” for his team by assuming all responsibility for it’s inept, complete lack of execution in all facets of the game against the Bears. Admittedly, this is a chivalrous move, especially by a new head coach.

That being said, Coach Marinnelli should be reminded that other coaches in this organization have talked about “bars being raised” and have generously doled out platitudes about how things were going to be different and that expectations were being elevated. Actually, I don’t think that someone can be fully anointed the role of head coach in Detroit without having to render such a mea culpa to the media in a post-game presser. It is quite alarming that after two games that situation can already appear so dire.

I have faith that the current coaching staff will be able to rectify some of the team’s execution issues, but I am very concerned about the complete and utter physical domination that the Lions suffered from at the hands of the Bears on Sunday. As physical as the Lion’s played against Seattle, they were equally as limp and lethargic against the Bears, at a time where they needed to play EVEN more physically than they did just 7 days prior. I hate to prematurely load any Lion’s game with an additional sense of relevance so early in the season, but, if they lose this Sunday at home to Green Bay I think it will be exceedingly difficult for them to win ANY of the remaining games on their schedule.

If there is an upside to the harsh reality of being a poor football team, the Lion’s have had extremely good luck selecting running backs in the first round of the draft from Oklahoma colleges (see Sanders, Barry, Owens, Steve & Sims, Billy), so they may very well be positioning themselves rather nicely to make such a move again in a few short months (Adrian Peterson, are you ready?)

In regards to Mike Williams , please Mike, for the love of Yah-Weh, remove your head from your rectum briefly. I realize that it has to be frustrating and mildly embarassing that you have been placed so completely under the microscope in your relatively brief NFL career and that you have suffered through some deal of adversity that was beyond your control just to get this close to achieving your lifelong dream, but don’t let hubris block your path to being a major contributor to this team. You have the capabilities to be successful and your teammates desperately need your contribution. Referring to yourself as a “Poster Boy” for the new regime and voicing your anger to the media does absolutely nothing to ingratiate yourself with the new regime.

The biggest mistake this organization ever made was allowing it’s PR staff to generate the unwarranted pre-season hype of a year ago, that surrounded the “Big Three” receiving trio of first round draft picks. The whole situation has been an unmitigated disaster which will affect the team’s success in the future in numerous nefarious and undetectable ways, just wait and watch as it develops. I would rather watch seven Mike Furrey’s than watch an overweight, lazy, angry, underachiever who clearly has no intrinsic motivation to succeed and cares little about the future success of his team. Hopefully, the encouragement that his been given to Williams by the coaches and his teammates will eventually lead him to charting a new course that doesn’t end with him taking up residence with a new organization.