Detroit Lions Weblog

Lions Sniveling Must Stop, Kowaslki Answers Some Interesting Questions, Marinelli on “Big Baby”

I heartily support the Lions decision to “not have Mike Martz return” this off-season. However, the non-stop, whining and sniveling among the Lions offensive personnel this off-season (Kevin Jones, Damien Woody, Jeff Backus), in regards to the incompetence of Martz, is incredibly sickening.

The Detroit News‘ Rob Parker recently wrote an article which featured some disparaging comments from Lions RB Kevin Jones directed at the now, Niners O.C. Martz. Parker, who is always more than willing to serve as a convenient mouthpiece for professional athletes, which is a sort of transparent compensation for his lack of journalistic ability, and he should be ashamed of himself. Where were the pressing questions to Jones about the team’s incredible demise this year? How about asking Jones about what personnel moves need to made for the team to improve this off season?

The bottom line is, Martz is gone, the Lions ended the season with a horrific 1-7 collapse, and no amount of finger-pointing will change the ultimate failure of this franchise in ‘07. The parting shots that have been levied by the members of this organization, are a denial on a grand scale. The megalomaniacal Martz may have made decisions that defied logic at times, but ultimately the players determine their own fate. Their stunning lack of accountability speaks volumes to why this team never seems to get it right, even after so many past failures.

“Killer” Kowalski addresses some interesting off-season questions on MLive.com with some equally engaging responses. Most enlightening, was his belief that the Lions are prepared to go with Ikaika Alama-Francis and Jared DeVries as their pass rushing left defensive ends. As much as I am glad to see an end to Kalimba “The Ghost” Edwards’ disappointing tenure in Detroit, this news troubles me, because if the Lions don’t add a more consistent pass rush, no amount of off- season re-jiggering will improve the team’s terrible defense.

Kowalski even responded to one of my questions, saying that the Lions new O.C. Jim Colletto will encourage the Lions QB’s to take shots down field in the passing game, even if they get rid of the seven step drops. So rather than a plodding, “Mooch”-like offense, maybe a more Holmgren-like passing attack will be in order, judging by “Killer’s” comments.

Apparently, in an attempt to do a little damage control, Rod Marinelli has recently stated that Shaun Rogers will not be released, he will either be a member of the Lions or will eventually be traded. I respect Marinelli’s blatant attempt to undo the damage done by last week’s premature reports, but it is obvious to me that Rogers definitely will not return to the team as a happy camper, so why would any team give the Lions adequate compensation for the expensive and aging Rogers.

Kowalski also gave an indication of what he perceives the Lions to believe Rogers’ value is. He answered one question by saying that Jets MLB Jonathan Vilma for Rogers wouldn’t likely be enough to trade Rogers, in the Lions eyes. If that’s the case, they better ship Rogers off to Duke, like Damien Woody before him, because he will show up to training camp north of 400 lbs if they don’t find a way to relocate him.

Another questioner asked if the Lions would consider uniting Jon Kitna with his deposed buddy, Mike Martz, in San Francisco. The Niners already have Trent Dilfer and Alex Smith on their roster, in spite of the love fest between Kitna and Martz, there is no reasonable way that the Lions could ship Kitna out, for either team.

AAFL Team Michigan, Michigan History Magazine article and 53 Deep

The All-American Football League held it’s inaugural draft this weekend. The AAFL is a spring professional football league that requires all of it’s players to possess college degrees and wants to bring collegiate-style rivalries to professional football.

Joe DeLamielleure, NFL Hall of Famer and Michigan State grad, is quite active in the league, and Team Michigan is coached by John Fontes–yes, brother of the “Big Buck”, and former Lions coach, Wayne Fontes.

For long suffering Lions fans, this may provide a more reasonable option than the Arena League to serve as a substitute for the continually disappointing Lions, ala the USFL’s Michigan Panthers. I want to monitor the upstart league as well as I possibly can, and may even blog it.

I also recently discovered an excellent blog entitled 53 Deep, which covers personnel and draft matters. The author of this blog projects that the Lions will select Pittsburgh OT Jeff Otah in the ‘08 draft, a move I would support heartily.

Otah, has incredible upside, and would eventually replace Jeff Backus at left tackle, in my opinion. The Lions have so many needs, that it is increasingly difficult to determine what is most pressing as far as their needs go.

Michigan History magazine(www.michiganhistorymagazine.com) features an excellent article in their current issue about the tumultuous, but championship winning 1957 Lions.

The fabled ‘57 Lions were the last championship winning NFL team in Michigan. The article talks about the resignation of Buddy Parker and the dynamic QB duo of Bobby Layne and Tobin Rote.

The article even revisits the infamous Bobby Layne curse, or the supposed derogatory and prophetic exit comments by Layne that stated that the Lions would not “return to a championship in 50 seasons after he left town.” Layne was many things, but no one knew he was a prophet. Their site also has an excellent article about the Lions called “When the Lions First Roared”.

Only the Lions….

Only the Lions could so swiftly and completely damage their bargaining ability to make an off-season trade.   The recent news in regards to Shaun Rogers’ likely being traded or jettisoned comes as no surprise to any of the team’s observers.

The problem is that the Lions, rather than allowing a leak to emerge from within their normally air-tight inner sanctum in Allen Park, should have at least attempted to sell the idea to the rest of the league that Rogers has value remaining to their organization, and would not be available anytime soon.

In the meantime, they could have possibly retained some of his value to other organizations, since it is clear that he would potentially, rather than definitely, be available for the right price. Admittedly, subterfuge is not an organizational strong suit, but how do the Lions continue to so thoroughly botch all of their personnel decisions? (Here’s a clue: Who’s name rhymes with Catt Chillen?)

Now, if they receive any offers at all, they will be operating from a subordinate position when it comes to hedging out a deal.   Typically, that is where they begin their bargaining in most cases, due to their near complete incompetence.  That being said, the damage that they have recently done makes it increasingly likely that Rogers will be had, on the open market, without recompense to the Lions.

The Lions have publicly criticized Rogers before, in a transparent attempt to motivate the wayward Rogers.  I believe that it would be foolish to draw from that well again.   Rogers deserves to leave the team on principle alone, but with that in mind, the Lions are likely to end up with the short end of the stick, yet again, in this situation.

What remains to be seen, other than the Lions continuing their improbably infamous descent as an organization, is whether the normally surly Rogers will take the recent announcement in stride, or will he put down his “Double Whopper” sandwich and force the Lions hand a bit, in order to gain a quicker exit out of town? (Same Ol’ Lions……)

News About “Big Baby” Shaun Rogers May Be Premature

Apparently, a television station has recently reported that the Lions plan on releasing the talented, but controversial DL Shaun “Big Baby” Rogers soon. Their are conflicting reports in regards to Rogers’ future status, but MLive’s “Killer” Kowalski doesn’t believe that Rogers’ release is imminent, at least for the time being.

Rogers is a supremely gifted athlete, who regularly underachieves, and lacks consistency. These traits have become unfortunate trademarks of Rogers’ career in Detroit. That being said, the Lions don’t currently have a viable replacement on their roster and are reticent about releasing Rogers due to his latent talent. The fact is, the Lions have so many roster positions on defense to address before next season, that parting with Rogers without compensation would not be prudent.

Rod Marinelli was a very successful defensive line coach in Tampa, and thus far, at least, this success has not proven beneficial in Detroit. Cory Redding, Shaun Rogers, Shaun Cody, and Kalimba Edwards are among the Lions defensive linemen who have not met expectations since Marinelli arrived. Marinelli has often explicitly stated that the defensive line has to be the foundation of the team’s defense, in order for the Tampa-2 zone to be successful.

Defensive Line coach Joe Cullen publicly embarrassed the organization entering the ‘06 season (the fabled “Naked Drive Thru” incident) and given the poor performance of the team’s defensive line in ‘07, appears to be enjoying a surprising amount of job security within the organization at this time.

It only seems logical to me, that Cullen is expendable, and a new coach needs to be brought into the fold who will light a fire under Shaun Rogers’ rather large ass, since he is the nominal leader of the team’s defense. Any future success the Lions defense will enjoy, with Rogers’ still on active roster, rests entirely upon his shoulders. If Rogers is not going full speed, is in poor playing condition, and is emotionally disengaged, performances like this season 1-7 finish will continue to be replicated.

Jimmy Lake, Scot Loeffler Enter the Lions Coaching Fo(o)ld

The Lions have tapped Bucs assistant secondary coach Jimmy Lake and former University of Michigan QB’s coach Scot Loeffler to assume similar roles with their organization.

Lake, hopefully, will infuse the Lions secondary with surer tackling, in both run support and in the passing game, and somehow generate more playmaking ability from a horribly ineffective unit.  Lake has worked with both Marinelli and D-coordinator Joe Barry in Tampa, so it should be a seamless transition.

Loeffler was brought in specifically to help bring Drew Stanton along, so that the Lions do not waste yet another high draft pick.   Loeffler is actually younger than Jon Kitna, and it remains to be seen how he may impact Kitna’s play.

Hopefully, each coach impacts significantly these critical areas, where the Lions have previously underachieved.  I am of the opinion that their stays in Detroit (due to the termination of Marinelli in ‘08) are likely to be short, but they could still have a positive impact next season.

Does Proposed “Balance” in Offense Indicate a Return of “West Coast” Concepts?

The Lions coaching staff have been circling the wagons and doing some heavy regrouping since the team’s less than stellar finish to the ‘07 season. Off. coordinator Mike Martz has left the team, and promotions have been made internally to replace him. After yesterday’s press conference, announcing these promotions, I wondered, could we see the return of the highly lamented, and previously thought to be left for dead, “West Coast” offense?

The Lions players apparently did not support the complexity of Martz’s offense, and did not enjoy the pressure (demands) it placed on the offensive line. The Lions offense, prior to Martz’s arrival, was a highly ineffective variant of the “West Coast” offense. Could Colletto, due to the team’s familiarity with the “West Coast” offense as a base, bring back some of those concepts?

The Lions players have expressed an collective interest in featuring more simpler, “bread and butter”-type of plays that would allow them to thrive in their execution. Well, given the team’s familiarity with the dink-n-dunk, “West Coast” offense, it only makes sense that some of those very same safer, more “balanced”, ball-control oriented type of plays make their return.

Upon Martz’s hiring, many hosannas were prematurely exclaimed because many Lions fans actually (foolishly) believed that due to Martz’s previous success, and his considerable, and progressive playbook, ultimately would lead to a much more wide open, vertical style of passing attack.

The Lions offense proved that it couldn’t, or wouldn’t, adapt to Martz’s admittedly, unorthodox passing attack. Since the promotion we have heard about these “improvements” to the Lions offense in ‘08:

1. 3 step passing drops

2. Audibles

3. More running, more bread-n-butter plays

4. Less pre-snap shifting and motion

What really keyed me in, to expect a return to the “West Coast” offense, was the hailing of three step passing drops for Kitna. Sounds like a lot more slants and short passes will be called so that Kitna can deliver safer, shorter passes. I envision more screen passes, swing passes, and crossing passes to make their return, too.

By taking the “teeth” out of a team’s offensive attack, it does not necessarily equate to a more successful, consistent attack. Given the Lions player personnel, and the brand of offense most often utilized in Tampa during Marinelli’s career as coach there, it is not a far stretch to expect the offense to become more “Mooch”-like next season.

Now that you have been duly warned, where are those fabled year two and year three improvements in the Tampa-2 zone we were promised as the players understanding grew exponentially? Or, in other words, for the Lions, the more things change, the more they stay abysmally the same!

Lions Press Conference Exhibits Annual Revisionism, Spin Doctoring That Typify Millen Era

With little fanfare, the Lions held a press conference to announce the dual promotions of Jim Colletto (Offensive coordinator) and Kippy Brown (Assistant Head coach and Passing Game coordinator) yesterday.

Both Colletto and Brown feature extensive coaching resumes, but given the team’s past seven seasons, and most Lions fan intimate familiarity with the nature of these annual Lions press conferences, it’s difficult to not be critical of this type of dog and pony show.

The Lions typically engage in a heavy dose of revisionism, and more than just a smidge of spin doctoring, when presenting these affairs. That being said, judging by the comments of all parties involved, other than the deposed Mike Martz, who was unable to defend himself, Rod Marinelli will ultimately take the largest credibility hit when the dust settles from yesterday’s proceedings.

Marinelli’s rapidly eroding credibility can’t be helped with statements like: (regarding what he likes about Colletto’s offense) “It’s just a scale down, getting a little bit more balanced. It’s going to really help us on road games. It’s going to give us the balance that we need. We’ve got a good offensive line. It showed as we went through the year.”

Aside from the profuse streams of profanity that I uttered after I read this statement, I was left wondering, Does Marinelli even have a clue? First off, I am supposed to accept that “three step” QB drops (instead of seven), the ability for the QB to audible plays, and the addition of a more balanced (and kinder and gentler, too?), brand of “bread and butter”-type plays are all going to provide immediate answers for the failings of the Lions offense in ‘07?

It’s as if the 117 QB sacks over two seasons, horrible red zone and 3rd down offensive troubles, and the complete lack of an offensive identity are all going to be remedied overnight, right?

I will not deny that Martz was a stubborn, megalomaniac whose style never truly fit in Detroit, and that ultimately he did deserve to be fired. That being said, judging by these Colletto comments, you would figure Martz’s next job would be to become the Wizard of Oz:

“The only thing I can say in terms of problems is, we just had too much. We couldn’t do all the things that we tried to do all the time. The repetition of some of the things wasn’t as thorough as it should have been…”

and later,

“Don’t fool the troops. I’d use different terminology if I wasn’t in public, but the players are the key. It’s not the coach. It’s the player.”

Martz pulled far too many of the strings, he was a terrible authoritarian that had to be eradicated. He was surely close to annexing the Sudetenland, right? In spite of Martz’s criticism of the Lions, upon his hiring in San Francisco, it seems that the Lions should be above engaging in this type of Orwellian “doublethink”.

I’ll rest easy now that the Lions have decided to make life easier for their poor, underpaid, and overworked players, too. The average Lions player has now been thoroughly conditioned, in spite of anything that Rod Marinelli would like to suggest, that if they wait long enough, the next ready-made panacea coach, philosophy, or personnel move will occur. So why be accountable to the franchise’s failings? Why buy into any particular philosophy or system, when the ‘08 model will roll out soon enough?

If anything truly can be gleaned from the Lions press conference, it appears that Jon Kitna is not a shoo-in as the team’s starting QB in ‘08. Something, that I would be willing to support if the Lions were being honest with themselves.

Among J.T. O’Sullivan (who is likely gone), Dan Orlovsky, and Drew Stanton, do you believe any of them are qualified enough to replace, let alone have the tools necessary to beat, Kitna in an open competition? The only threat to Kitna, other than an 0-8 start to the season, will be a QB acquired from outside of the organization to compete with him next season.

Rod Marinelli also provided the footprint necessary to begin the expected, Shaun Rogers exit strategy, too. First, in reference to the off-season conditioning program, Marinelli said that every player currently under contract was expected to participate. He also intimated that he would be stricter with Rogers than he was last off-season:

“Weight will be an issue, yeah,” Marinelli said. “He was a good player for us for nine games. But it’s the endurance all the way through the season, that’s what I’m looking for.”

That’s all fine and good. Rogers is probably anxious to leave Detroit, where he can reside, with his surly demeanor in tow, in comfortable anonymity. He doesn’t appear suited to bear the weight of an organization upon his massive shoulders, in spite of his largesse, especially one as troubled as the Lions organization.

Yesterday’s press conference, in my opinion, signals the beginning (or end) of the stopwatch on Marinelli’s tenure as head coach. As quixotic of an exercise as being a Lions head coach can be, Marinelli has been a resounding failure as the team’s coach. Events like yesterday’s press conference, which are emblematic of why the Lions have one playoff victory in 50 seasons, signal to me to expect to continue to see more of the same cycle of disappointment for the immediate future.

More Doom and Gloom, Martz

As I have often lamented, only the Lions can knit so exquisite a pattern of dysfunction and disarray. For example, accounting for “Killer” Kowalski’s off-season projections, take a long view at rounds 1-3 of the draft, during the 33-81 Millen era.

Year—–Round#—-Pick#–Pos.–Player

2001 rd 1 pick#18 LT Jeff Backus

2001 rd 2a pick#50 C Dominic Raiola

2001 rd 2b pick #61DT Shaun Rogers

2002 rd 1 pick#3 QB Joey Harrington

2002 rd 2 pick #35 DE Kalimba Edwards

2002 rd 3 pick #68 CB Andre Goodman

2003 rd 1 pick#2 WR Charles Rogers

2003 rd 2 pick#34 LB Boss Bailey

2003 rd 3 pick#66 DE/DT Cory Redding

2004 rd 1 pick#7 WR Roy Williams

2004 rd 1 pick#30 RB Kevin Jones

2004 rd 2 pick#37 LB Teddy Lehman

2004 rd 3 pick#73 CB Keith Smith

2005 rd 1 pick#10 WR Mike Williams

2005 rd 2a pick#37 DT Shaun Cody

2005 rd 2b traded to Tenn.

2005 rd 3 pick#72 CB Stanley Wilson, Jr.

2006 rd 1 pick#9 LB Ernie Sims

2006 rd 2 pick#40 S Daniel Bullocks

2006 rd 3 pick#74 RB Brian Calhoun

2007 rd 1 pick#2 WR Calvin Johnson

2007 rd 2 pick#34 traded to Buffalo

2007 rd 2 pick#43 QB Drew Stanton

2007 rd 2 pick#58 DE Ikaika Alama-Francis

2007 rd 2 pick#61 S Gerald Alexander

2007 rd 3 picks 66, 74 traded to New Orleans and Baltimore.

Putting this in perspective, the Lions average pick number for their first draft selection is the 8th pick, in Millen’s seven drafts. In the first three rounds of the draft, all players who were selected in the top 100 picks of their respective drafts, the Lions have selected 23 players.

Of which, 19 remain on their current roster. However, nine of those players (Shaun Rogers, Kalimba Edwards, Boss Bailey, Roy Williams, Teddy Lehman, Keith Smith, Shaun Cody, Stanley Wilson, Jr., and Brian Calhoun) are among the players likely to be leaving the roster this off-season. One player, Jeff Backus, should also have his contract re-structured, or should be added to this list, too.

In the eventuality that Kowalski is right, of the 10 (10/23=43% of picks remaining on the roster, or 10/7=1.4 players per draft remaining on the roster, less than two players per draft remain, from the first three rounds) remaining players selected during the first three rounds of the Millen era, five of them would have been selected in the last two drafts.

Given the Lions high draft position in all of these drafts, this level of attrition is unacceptable, and will make it very difficult for the organization to recover. Which is why I believe that it is high time that Millen (see both Letter to Ford and The Matt Millen Experience, at Lionbacker.com, for more on this dire situation) be terminated.

The Fire Millen ‘07 petition has 1415 signatures, which is actually impressive when you consider how little publicity it has received.

Mike Martz has struck again. He recently said that the Lions struggled because they don’t have any offensive tackles.

“They’re not even close in Detroit. So it’s a big difference. Offensively, we were short two tackles. It’s hard to run or throw without two tackles.”

Which is probably, in part, his response to players like Jeff Backus and Damien Woody openly celebrating his ouster. In Martz’s defense, Backus and George Foster combined for 31 sacks allowed. In defense of the tackles, Martz’s offense often put them in a situation where they were blocking unassisted, against an opponent’s best pass rushers, in clear passing situations.

Off Season Changes Are Only the Certainty for the Lions

Former Houston Texans GM and CBS studio analyst, Charley Casserly, mentioned prior to Saturday’s Jacksonville/New England broadcast that the Lions will be actively shopping Shaun Rogers and Roy Williams for potential trade opportunities throughout the off season. In a nutshell, if Casserly is aware of this situation already, the Lions are going to have a tumultuous off season.

MLive’s Tom “Killer” Kowalski speculates that as many as 20-25 of the Lions 65 players on their season ending roster will be looking for work elsewhere next season. In an article entitled “Marinelli’s Off Season Should Be Busy”, he methodically delineates who he believes will likely return, who is definitely leaving, and who is probably on the roster bubble.

For the most part, I agree with Killer’s designations. Where I deviate from him is:

QB: If they choose to keep Kitna and Orlovsky, and continue to groom Stanton, Matt Millen will be just as grievously negligent as he was entering the ‘07 season. The Lions need another battle-tested, veteran QB, who, given the porous Lions O-Line, will be able to handle being thrust into any game, at any time. I wonder how firm a commitment the Lions will exhibit to Stanton, now that Martz is gone.

RB:Aveion Cason is not listed as a keeper by “Killer”, but as we’ve seen, he is always at the top of Matt Millen’s speed dial, since he has been available to them repeatedly over the course of several seasons. In regards to Jones and Calhoun, given their advanced injury histories, this would also not be a prudent move by Millen, either. I agree with retaining the monstrous FB Jon Bradley, even in a limited role. I also think that T.J. Duckett clearly exhibited that when he is paired with another more versatile type of feature back, that he could work well in the Lions offense. He also proved that he could work in tandem with a more traditional-type of 3rd down back, with Duckett as the featured back, if necessary. I still think that the Lions may need to bring an additional veteran into camp to compete with Calhoun, and compensate for any sort of prolonged recovery time for Jones.

OL: Fundamentally, if the Lions continue to stick with Jeff Backus as their starting LT, they will never improve. Backus is dependable, and incredibly MEDIOCRE!!! The Lions should move him to RT, bid adieu to Damien Woody, and make the selection or acquisition of a LT an immediate priority, especially considering the talent available to them in the ‘08 draft. Hopefully, the Lions will prove to have been able to mine more than just “fool’s gold” among young offensive lineman like Frank Davis, Jonathan Scott and Manny Ramirez. At the very least, one or two of them have to provide depth.

DL:Until the Lions find a legitimate edge rusher, the Tampa-2 defense will continue to struggle. I think that White and Alama-Francis are capable of filling the LDE spot just fine, but they need a Jared Allen-type of pass rusher to play the RDE spot. As frustrating as S. Rogers’ performance has been, their will be a major void in the middle of the Lions defense when he is gone. “Killer” also omits DT Shaun Cody completely, which likely speaks volumes to his future in Detroit, too.

LB:I am comfortable with Paris Lenon sliding over to SLB with Alex Lewis, who needs to take a big step forward this off season, especially if Lenon becomes more of a special teams/backup type of player. The Lions need to find a legitimate MLB who is capable of dropping into the deep middle of their cover-2 in pass coverage, and still provides stout, disciplined run-stopping skills.

DB’s:I am little surprised that Kowalski earmarks Wilson, Jr. as someone who is leaving. Wilson, Jr. is young and athletically-gifted, and deserves a Kalimba Edwards-type mountain of patience to see if he can eventually turn things around, given the high draft pick that was invested in him. Otherwise, I agree that the Lions secondary is deserving of a near-complete overhaul, especially if they can add a dynamic play maker to the mix.

Do Matt Millen, or Rod Marinelli for that matter, appear deserving of being in charge of another complete retooling of the Lions roster, which will ultimately be retooled again, upon Marinelli and Millen’s co-firings? The Lions are not going to just have to make minor moves this off season. By my account, they need:

A veteran QB, a veteran RB, a LT, RDE, NT, MLB, and likely, 2 starting CB’s, besides needing to add additional depth throughout the roster. (8 major players)

Killer’s list is more conservative, and probably more accurate, than mine. That being said, the Lions don’t resemble a team that nearly made the playoffs, especially with this expected turnover.

The Lions should investigate the potential availability of the Jets MLB Jon Vilma, who is returning from a knee injury, and DT DeWayne Robertson, both are not happy in New York’s 3-4 defense. Both players would fill immediate roster needs.

Joe Theismann’s recent assertion that Matt Millen is damaging other former players chances to become in charge of personnel decision-making for other NFL teams, should serve as a clarion call for the Ford’s. The Lions, and their current chief executive, are a joke. Theismann, who is currently unemployed, and is not above self-promotion, may have tangible proof that Millen has hurt former player’s chances.

With stellar football minds like Bill Cowher, Tony Dungy, and Mike Holmgren all potentially available, the Ford’s need to make a difficult, but aggressive decision for once. They need to make a statement to their fans that 31-81, and 51 years with just one playoff victory, have become unacceptable. Otherwise, expect more of the same 2-14/3-13 Lions redux, for the foreseeable future, that we have all grown accustomed to.

Martz Hired by Frisco, Alex Smith Groans in Agony

Mike Martz is San Francisco’s problem now. He was hired by his former protege in Washington, Mike Nolan. Nolan’s job rests precariously in the balance, and I expect that ultimately, just like Marinelli/Martz didn’t work, Nolan’s undoing will be Martz.

I think Martz is brilliant. I do think that the league has caught up with him, to a certain degree, though. I also think, that if Alex Smith was unhappy with Mike Nolan, he will be happy with Martz’s offense, even if the eccentric Martz eventually seals Smith’s fate in San Francisco, too.

I fully expect Martz to do the unpredictable in Frisco. His success/failure will likely run the whole gamut.  I just don’t understand the logic of pairing a defensive-minded head coach with a pass happy offensive coordinator like Martz. It unquestionably did not work in Detroit.

Martz, likely in response to Roy Williams, Jeff Backus, and Damien Woody, did disparage the Lions a bit. He mentioned that the Niners were further along than the Lions offense and that he was confident about the Niners personnel.

In regards to Martz, good riddance. I don’t believe that the Lions made the best decision in whom they decided to promote, but do believe that Martz rightfully needed to go.

I really do wonder why the Lions were in such a hurry. Al Saunders(potentially), Chan Gailey, Cam Cameron, and Brian Billick are all currently available. Cameron and Saunders, in particular, are intriguing possibilities that the Lions have
chosen to ignore.