Detroit Lions Weblog

Heartbreaking Loss Just Not Good Enough

Leave it to the Lions.  Jason Hanson misses a late chip shot field goal, which would have forced the Cowboys to have to score twice in rapid succession as the clock expired in order to win.   One miracle Cowboys turnover, inside the red zone, as the Cowboys were about to score, was unfortunately followed by poor offensive playcalling and inadequate time management.  

Another later botched fumble recovery during the Cowboys game winning drive, which, if it had been recovered by Paris Lenon, would have likely finished the Cowboys chances, and the inevitable flourish, a Romo-to-Witten score that completely, and deeply, drove the nails into the coffin of the improbable Lions 2007 playoff hopes.

An exciting denouement to be sure, but also a heart-wrenching one, too.   It is utterly amazing how quickly the Lions allowed this game to turn on them.   As a Lions fan, I have seen this script unfold so MANY times that I nudged my friend and told him, “You watch, we’ll lose this 28-27, yet,” after the Lions had made the score 27-14. 

That is where the problem lies, the Lions organization has not been placed into a position by it’s leadership where they can routinely win this type of game, and that will likely remain the case for the foreseeable future.

As a fan, there are no moral victories to be gleaned from this one.   Yes, they didn’t get blown out like I expected, but ultimately, if you don’t produce a victory, in a clearly winnable game, than you have failed.

Where this leads for the Lions I am unsure.  All I know is that if you have an opportunity to make the playoffs, and clearly the Lions 6-2 start put them in ample position to do so, and you don’t, then there is a major problem.

In my eyes, the positives of their performance will not resonate long.   What will stand as symbolic of this organization’s continued struggles will be things like kickoff coverage being so poor that the Lions were forced to “pooch” kickoffs and concede the 35 yard line as the Cowboys drive starting point. The fact being that franchise building blocks like Shaun Rogers, was unable to play during the most critical time of the game because he is clearly in poor playing condition, and players like Cory Redding, Jeff Backus, and most conspicuous by his absence, Kalimba “The Ghost” Edwards, are not getting the job done.  In which case , the Lions face the undesirable, and interminable, rebuilding process staring them in the face, yet again.

Week 14 Preview, Calvin Johnson, Sniping Cowboys

I can with a great deal of confidence assure you that this Sunday against the Cowboys, the Lions will continue to uphold their promise of unloading heaping helpings of excrement onto the playing field, that have been drawn from the vast reservoirs of their chamber pot of incompetence.

The Lions already featuring a one-dimensional, ineffective offense, will sorely miss Roy Williams’ playmaking ability.   The Cowboys edge rushers, Marcus Spears, Chris Canty, DeMarcus Ware, and Greg Ellis will thoroughly overmatch the Lions OT’s.  

Jon Kitna, he of unwavering faith, will have to utter several prayers to assist in him remaining healthy by the end of this game.  It is really that simple, the Lions, if they can muster up some decent blocking, may be able to exploit the relatively weak Cowboys secondary.  Otherwise, I don’t see how they can keep this game even remotely close.

I expect them to lose 42-9, but adding insult to injury, the final score will be 42-16 as J.T. O’Sullivan leads the Lions on an “inspired” march during the last two minutes of the game, which will ultimately spark another “QB” controversy in Detroit. UGH!!!

In regards to Calvin Johnson.   His career has certainly taken on a Harringtonian cast, hasn’t it?  Unlike his fellow first round wide receivers, Mike Williams and Charles Rogers, Johnson doesn’t have maturity and character issues slowing his development.   Unfortunately, in spite of all of the pre-season hype, the Lions never had a clear plan how exactly they were going to utilize his abilities, much like Harrington.  

Mike Martz doesn’t appear to be very infatuated with Johnson as a playmaker, much like how Mooch and Marty never concealed their disgust of all things Joey.   The Lions had better find a way to integrate Johnson into their offensive milieu, or they will be in deep trouble in their remaining four games.

I believe that the Lions will struggle to score without Roy Williams, since teams will be able to roll coverage to Calvin Johnson and force the Lions to beat them with Shaun McDonald, Mike Furrey, and Troy Walters. 

All of the pre-game sniping by the Cowboys confirms what many of us believe, around the league the Lions have a reputation for being soft and having no backbone.   The trash talking of Terrence Newman and Bradie James, I believe, is meant to get inside the Lions heads.   They know that come Sunday, Lions will likely fold like a cheap tent, and rather than be spurned on by the Cowboys idiocy.  James and Newman have a healthy disrespect for the Lions and realize that even with providing the Lions with some bulletin board material, the Lions have little resolve to back it up. We are likely to see more of the clinical, dispassionate play that we were treated to last Sunday in Minneapolis.

Lions Owe a Big Thanks to the Detroit Tigers

The flames of discontent and disgust were roiling, and were about to thoroughly engulf the Lions, to the point that I believe that Sunday’s home game against the Cowboys will be like adding an additional road game to the schedule, but then, the Detroit Tigers bought this pathetic franchise a little bit of time(or at the very least briefly staved off the inevitable).

William Clay Ford should be sending Mike Ilitch a big thank you card, balloons, and a new car in gratitude. The catastrophe that is the 2007 Lions season, has been ousted completely from the spotlight, and has been rendered essentially irrelevant, given the incredible trade that Tigers GM Dave Dombrowski was able to engineer during the baseball winter meetings. 

That being said, with the Lions mathematically (don’t laugh) still playoff relevant, what a sad commentary, and a stark reminder, of the considerable dysfunctionality of the Detroit Lions franchise.  Lions fans have absolutely no faith that the Lions will find a way to dig deep and fight for their playoff lives.  It is commonly assumed that the season is finished.

The general consensus is that the Lions have mailed in another season and should just fade meekly to the background, which I am sure they will gladly oblige.    In the halls of the Allen Park offices, the Lions “braintrust” should be a little dismayed.   In an incredible sports town, with three incredibly succesful pro sports franchises, they are a mere afterthought.

The Lions should examine the considerable success of the Pistons, Red Wings, and Tigers and take note.   There is a clear, unwavering organizational plan that has been executed beautifully in each case.   Meanwhile, the Lions continue to piss directly into the wind, 50 years after their last championship as a franchise.

“Killer” Kowalski Confirms My Suspicions

Tom “Killer” Kowalski wrote an excellent article today speculating upon the long term future of Roy Williams and Kevin Jones in Detroit.  Each have clear reasons why they would like to leave Detroit, and honestly, who can blame them?

You only get one opportunity to make your mark as an NFL player, and who wants to waste their valuable, admittedly heavily compensated, talent floundering for this abortion of a franchise?  Are there discernible signs that things are going to change before each player becomes a free agent in ‘09?

Given how badly Matt Millen’s last two “franchise” players (Cory Redding and Jeff Backus) have performed after receiving big raises and shedding the “franchise” tag, I hope that the Lions can trade one or both of them, before they each get the opportunity to flop as miserably as the aforementioned players.

I really like Kevin Jones and Roy Williams and appreciate their contributions.  Still it has become grossly apparent that neither have the right mix of ability, leadership, and luck, considering their injury histories, to seriously alter the course of this franchise.   I hate to admit it kids, but the interminable rebuilding project continues to march on…….

Lions-Vikings In-Game Pow Wow was Prescious

During the 3rd Quarter of Sunday’s abysmal loss, amidst a prolonged play review by the game’s overmatched officiating crew, the Lions and Vikings gathered for a cute, amiable, on field tete a tete, which for me at least, is as symbolic as anything why the Lions continue to suck.

I will accept that many of the Lions and Vikings are friends and have prior relationships on and off the field,   That being said, the fact that the Lions appeared so dispassionate, and content, with their 42-10 beatdown, and Lions Head Coach Rod Marinelli didn’t immediately pull the players off of the field, in response to the tete a tete,  so that they didn’t continue to embarass this running joke of a franchise, speaks volumes to why this team will, at best, finish 7-9 after a 6-2 start.

For every gain this organization makes, it takes at least two steps back.   The fact is, since “team leaders” like Jon Kitna and Dom Raiola even felt it was necessary to publicly state that there was a growing internal unraveling of this team, shows just how clueless the powers that be truly are.  Don’t you think, after a horrible four game slide, that it is completely and abundantly evident to all observers that there is something horribly wrong with this team?

Rod Marinelli’s symbolic post game “falling on the sword”, or his admitting that the responsibility for such a poor performance rested completely upon his shoulders, struck me as both an empty (predictable) gesture and completely redundant.  Marinelli had better realize that if he continues to accept responsibility, and things don’t change performance-wise for his team, that people are going to believe him before long, in spite of the uninspired play of the team.

Going forward, it is unreasonable to expect the Lions to lose to the Cowboys by at least 30 points, the Chargers by 20 points, and the Packers, at frigid Lambeau in a meaningless game, by at least 15 points?  This team has no heart, or at least not enough of it to show that it would like to being doing anything other than playing golf and watching American Idol in January.

Since that is the case, it is that fun time of the year for all Lions fans, especially those sick enough to be reading this drivel, Why do we do it?  Why do we care?  Why will I waste my time, and hard-earned money, by attending this Sunday’s upcoming bloodletting? 

I don’t like looking in the mirror often, but by reflecting maybe we can face facts.   The Lions internal problems are so endemic and thoroughly entrenched, that expecting it to ever change is foolhardy.  May I suggest, NBC’s new and improved American Gladiators?

Lions Implode in Disgusting Road Loss to Vikings

Only the Lions could find the means to play as completely inept and uninspired as they did on Sunday against Minnesota, with 12 days of game preparation, in a game that should have been akin to their Super Bowl game, considering it’s playoff implications.  

Sunday’s loss may have been as poor of a showing for a Lions team as we have ever seen in recent years.  Matt Millen, Mr. 30-78, has to be really scratching his head now.   It is really quite amazing how often that everything that he comes into contact with, and all of the decisions that he has made (that often, at least on the surface level appear to be credible) (alchemically?) are routinely transformed into feces.

What is their left to be said?  Roy Williams is likely out for the remainder of the season.   The Lions are highly unlikely to win anymore than one (Chiefs) of their remaining games.  The Lions have so thoroughly blown their playoff opportunity, that it leaves me wondering what exactly is there for them to continue to play for?

After this season, I would say that there is a better than 75% chance that Mike Martz and Special Teams Coach Stan Kwan will be looking for new jobs.   At this point, if you are going to blow out half of your coordinators anyhow, maybe it is time to consider starting over from scratch, yet again, with a completely new Lions coaching staff.

Rod Marinelli, as much as I respect him, has not been successful in any tangible way in his continuing process of changing the essential fabric of the members of this team.   At this point, I am quite certain that the poisonous, contagious, loser mentality, or in other words, what has constituted the status quo in Allen Park for years, will eventually win out over Marinelli’s incessant refrain of ”one snap at a time”-type motivational incantations.

The 900 pound elephant in the room is Bill Cowher.    Is there any other coach more prepared than Cowher to so completely transform an organization?   Cowher, who remains a free agent, could possibly be persuaded to take on the incredible challenge of fixing this moribund franchise.  The W.C. Fords would have to be willing to hand him a blank check, and the unfettered promise of complete organizational control in order to convince Cowher to surrender his comfortable retirement.