Detroit Lions Weblog

After Sunday’s Victory Marinelli’s Plan is more Visible

In Sunday’s win against the Bills, it became apparent for the first time what exactly characterizes the brand of football that Lions Coach Rod Marinelli believes is winning football. That brand of football may finally be beginning to resonate with the Lions. Obviously, it was just one victory and the Bills are quite far from serious Super Bowl contenders, but the Lions continued to be effective on offense and began to show signs that the intricacies of the Cover-2 zone defense are making more sense.

In the victory, with a patchwork offensive line, it was impressive that Kevin Jones was so effective running the ball and that the Lions depended upon him to close the game out in the end with a less than comfortable lead. I have been decrying the improper utilization of a talent like Jones throughout his career and am hopeful, and glad that the Lions may have realized his potential. With the injuries the team has sutained on their offensive line, running the ball became their best option especially with the Bills planning on pinning their ears back and coming after Qb Jon Kitna relentlessly. The Lions patchwork offensive line were able to build upon their successes throughout the day and were able to protect Jon Kitna well enough that WR Roy Williams had a career day. The Mike Martz offense is much more thrilling and daunting than any we have seen in recent memory in Detroit.

Most encouraging for me was the defensive play. The Lions dormant pass rush came alive and consistently pressured Bills QB J.P. Losman. The team was able to garner 5 sacks (3 1/2 by James Hall!) I also noticed a more rugged physicality from players like LB Paris Lenon and CB Fernando Bryant that had been sorely missing. This presence serves notice that the Linebackers and Secondary will punish you after the catch, which is necessary if the Lions no longer want to continue getting diced up by opposing QB’s.

There were still a lot of mistakes made Sunday and it is abundantly clear that no Lions victory will come easily this year. Hopefully, the victory gives the Lions something to build upon, especially after how emotionally unaffected they seemed to by their 0-5 start. The team obviously has the confidence and belief in their coaches philosophies, now they just need to exhibit the consistency and discipline of execution that will lead to future victories.