Detroit Lions Weblog

Is it Time to “Dumb Down” or Scratch Completely, the Tampa-2 Zone Defense?

The trademark of a good coach, in my opinion, is an ability to make quick adaptations and on-the-fly assessments. The ability to judge personnel and prepare it properly by putting it in a clear position to succeed are also very important.

Coaches also are generally strong-willed, “true believers” that possess so much faith in their coaching philosophy and ability to lead that they often adhere to these traits to the detriment of their employers.  The question that needs to be asked, in Rod Marinelli’s case, can the Lions win, without the talented personnel necessary to succeed with the cover-2 zone defense as it’s base scheme?

Marinelli’s dogged faith in the zone defense, has lead to this team being entirely unsuccessful on defense, to the point where it has also damaged the ability for the team’s offense to perform capably, and therefore, needs to come into serious question, now.

Allowing 90 points and 800 yards in two games of football, is a clear sign for me, that Marinelli needs to make some sort of a change, in spite of his philosophical preference for the zone defense.

In order for the zone to succeed, the Lions need to establish a consistent, panic-inducing pass rush, something that two measly DeWayne White sacks and the hugely comfortable success of green QB’s like Matt Ryan and Aaron Rodgers, serves as staunch evidence of the fact that the Lions front four have proved incapable of providing, thus far.

The Lions either need to utilize more zone blitzes, change personnel, or not utilize so much zone coverage.

The zone blitzes would help in pressuring the opponents QB’s, but it is clear that the Lions secondary is far from improved, either.  In other words, can the Lions afford to expose another weakness, when the dam is already close to busting?

Changing personnel is a difficult choice, but if the team’s younger players are going to ever seize and flourish in this defense, they need reps.   In other words, if Jordan Dizon, Gerald Alexander, Daniel Bullocks, Ikaika “Hawaii 2.0″ Alama-Francis, Cliff Avril, Landon Cohen, and Andre Fluellen are ever going to bolster this defense, now’s the time to see if they can.

If opponent’s are ever going to be stopped from running roughshod over this defense, it may be time to simplify players responsibilities, or change the scheme in some way so that they can succeed, utilizing their strengths.

All I know is, the Lions defense can’t continue to allow opposing players to have career days against them, and they surely don’t look comfortable executing their current scheme.

The Lions execrable defensive performance on Sunday is only a sign of things to come, in my opinion.   If you believe that the Lions defense is currently over-matched, like I do, how do you think it will look several, season-ending injuries to key personnel later as this Bataan death march of a season wears on?

The most damning critique of this coaching staff, and it’s choice of defensive scheme, is that the Lions clear personnel strength is on offense.   They spent the whole off-season hoping to bolster it with a better rushing attack.The performance of the defense has severely damaged the Lions offense for two season’s now.  The Lions have had to become one-dimensional on offense, as a result.  The refusal to adjust and adapt, will surely mark Rod Marinelli’s failed tenure, and eventual termination, as Lions head coach.

The bottom line is, you can’t spot an opponent 21 points in successive weeks and expect to have the opportunity to win.  If the Lions continue to field a cover-2 zone defense week-to-week, they are essentially telling the world, we are going to give our opponents 21 points or more and do not expect to win.  Haven’t coaches been fired for less?

Millen’s 31-83 Lions Clutch Another Miserable Defeat From an Improbable Victory as Same Ole Lions Prevail

No organization in professional sports can so mercilessly subject it’s fans to such rapid, improbable elation and so quickly devolve to complete and total deflation than the Lions did Sunday.  Sunday’s home opening loss to the Packers was an epic disaster for the ages, within an organization that has provided so MANY epic disasters during recent seasons that it has become an organizational trademark, of sorts.

One thing we do know intimately coming out of Sunday’s loss is that this is a very BAD football team, one which no amount of “one snap at a time’s” or ” we have got to look at tape’s” , or any other rhetorical, inane coachspeak Rod Marinelli wants to trot out, can redeem.

Plain and simple, the Tampa-2 Zone defense is the heavy anchor around the bow of the S.S. Marinelli (much like the “West Coast Offense” was to the S.S. Mariucci) which ultimately will lead to it’s plunging the dark depths of unchartered, new organizational lows which we are likely to be subjected to over the next few months.

Another thing that is abundantly, and sadly, clear after Sunday’s seven minute, game-ending meltdown is that Jon Kitna is a veritable, offensive turnover machine, and after being given the ample chance to succeed as a starting QB, he has blown it as an organizational standard bearer, admittedly, under less than complementary circumstances.  Nonetheless, Jon Kitna is an abject failure as a NFL starting QB.

The Lions have no reasonable choice but to begin vetting QB’s Dan Orlovsky, or yet more likely, Drew Stanton to assume the helm after their week four bye.

The Lions sure are a spectacular, unmitigated disaster.   During Matt Millen’s 31-83 tenure, and amidst being engrossed with celebrating their 75th season as an organization, they have likely achieved the inconceivable–fielding the WORST TEAM in FRANCHISE HISTORY!!!!

That’s the thing that was so distasteful about Sunday’s loss, there will be no “Hollywood” ending to this season.   After eventually thrusting an inexperienced QB into the lineup, combined with the obvious reality of featuring an aging, very bad defense which will likely be increasingly wracked with injury, (if you think the Lions defense is a porous disaster now, mix in a few “street” free agents and career “special teamers” to their starting lineup and see how it “performs” as season marches on) the only direction to reasonably expect this team to go is down.

As the season wears unmercifully on, you are really looking at only one feasible conclusion to this season, after remarkably, only two games. The Lions are certainly going to possess another top ten draft pick, to go along with yet another entirely new coaching staff, and it’s attendant schematic and personnel changes.

For me, at least, and I am sure among thousands of Lions fans, there is a growing blood thirst, a desire for a sacrificial lamb to be trotted forward.  I don’t care if it’s a trade (Jon Kitna?, Roy Williams?) , a player release (George Foster?, Jeff Backus?), or a coach being terminated (Rod Marinelli? Joe Barry? Stan Kwan?), I want a sign that this organization is trying to prevent going on the skids yet again, and that somebody is being held accountable.

Bill Cowher–Detroit has a 911 situation, please respond at once!
Can it get any bleaker?………

Week 2 Preview: Lions Vs. Packers, Does Lions Season Hang in the Balance, Already?

To say that the Lions need to eradicate the bad taste that they put into our mouth’s with their putrid, inexcusable week one performance is a given.  There should be no further comment upon their disastrous performance in Atlanta.

Entering week 2, it is really quite simple.  Can the Lions effectively run with the ball, and conversely, can they effectively stop the Packers rushing attack?  If the answer is “no” to both questions, then Sunday’s game could become another embarrassing, abysmal bloodbath.

Apparently, T Gosder Cherilus will see more playing time, and G Stephen Peterman has staved off G Manny Ramirez, for the time being.   The Lions offensive line is far from settled, and the positional battles are important, as long as they are not won by default, as a result of poor in-game performances by their respective incumbents.

I have begin to wonder, especially given the Packers propensity for man-to-man coverage, should the Lions attack the Packers secondary with multi-receiver sets and a heavy dose of passes?  Al Harris has admittedly owned Roy Williams in their previous meetings, but Calvin Johnson is the great equalizer, here.

Johnson, along with the dual slot combo of Shaun McDonald and Mike Furrey, could put the Packers on their heels, and eventually loosen up the running game for the Lions.  The rub here is, can the Lions slow the pass rush of Aaron Kampman and Kbeer Gbaja-Biamila long enough, to effect the Packers defensive game plan?

I am not suggesting the Lions completely abandon the run.  However, I am not thoroughly convinced that the Lions will establish the run successfully without first relying upon their successful passing attack.

Defensively, it would also appear that LB Jordan Dizon will see increased playing time.  CB Leigh Bodden will replace CB Travis Fisher and FS Daniel Bullocks will usurp FS Gerald Alexander as a starter.  The Lions need to tackle effectively, have the right personnel and play packages installed, and generate a more effective, consistent pass rush.

The Packers will try to pound the ball with their own version of the zone rushing attack.   RB Ryan Grant may be limited, or unavailable, but RB’s Brandon Jackson and Kregg Lumpkin are salivating at the opportunity to put a “Burner” Turner-styled performance on the board, as long as the Lions cooperate.

Lions defensive coordinator Joe Barry is mystified by last week’s awful performance.   Barry’s days could be numbered if last week’s performance is repeated, or nearly repeated, for that matter.

The Lions need to benefit from a stronger, more impeding performance from their defensive line.  Routinely, in last week’s game, the Falcons running backs made it to the second and third level of the Lions defense unscathed.   That is not winning football, as we witnessed.
I do believe, given week’s one lackluster performance, we will see a more spirited home debut from the Lions. Ultimately, talent deficits, poor execution, and an apparently, eternal damnation from the football gods will lead to the Lions eventual loss.  Favre-Less Packers 31-23

Lions Defensive Ineptitude Outshines Offensive Miscues, Lack of Ground Attack

The Lions defense was truly awful on Sunday.  They missed innumerable tackles, and appeared, even with the off-season addition of several former Tampa Bay Buccaneers who were supposed to bolster the defense, to be just as clueless and unable to execute the cover-2 zone defense, as they have in each of Rod Marinelli’s previous two seasons as head coach.

Rod Marinelli constructed this team to be filled with effort and character guys, which diminished the organization’s importance of adding legitimate on-field talent.   In this particular case, the 900 lb. pink elephant, or better yet, the 375 lb disgruntled defensive tackle (I think we might miss you after all, “Big Baby”) in the room is, that the Lions lack of genuine talent on the defensive side of the ball was clearly exploited by the Falcons.

Furthermore, the Lions lack of talent on defense, coupled with some ill-timed coaching and personnel breakdowns, makes them a likely candidate for the worst defense in the league, judging by Sunday’s performance.

As bad as the Lions defense was, which practically ripped any semblance of a game plan that the Lions offense had into shreds, the Lions offense needs to come into question, too.

The Lions still don’t look capable of establishing a sound running game.  I realize that the game went south in a hurry on Sunday, but the Lions offensive line was dominated by the Falcons front seven, which can’t be denied.

Jon Kitna’s tirade was a bit of an embarrassment,  but at least he exhibited some fire and frustration, while the game was past the point of getting out of hand.   He clearly is not comfortable in his position, as a leader, on the doormat franchise of the entire NFL.

That being said, Kitna and his receivers are often still not on the same page, and Kitna is a veritable turnover machine, in my opinion.  Short of Roy Williams and Calvin Johnson being spectacular, this offense has absolutely nothing to hang it’s hats upon, either.

With the offense, I do think that they have some of the necessary pieces in place to come around.  Their ultimate success is predicated upon the Lions defense, though.   No offense can truly operate efficiently when facing a 21-0 deficit at such an early stage of a game.

The Lions would like you to believe that the organization is still capable of moving forward, yet, Ikaika “Hawaii-2.0″ Alama-Francis (2nd round ‘07) was on the inactive list for Sunday’s game. Rod Marinelli was a defensive line coach, prior to becoming a head coach, what is up with “Hawaii-2.0″’s lack of development?

Injury-prone Drew Stanton (2nd round ‘07) is still the third-string QB, and Gosder Cherilus (1st round ‘08) and Jordan Dizon (2nd round ‘08) have not been able to surpass their stop-gap replacement as each of their positions.

The player the Lions acquired in the Shaun Rogers trade chiefly to upgrade their secondary, Leigh Bodden, whom they bestowed with a big raise during the off-season, is still fighting to get onto the field with any regularity.

It is becoming clearer, with all of the current organizational positions in place, that the Lions can’t find, develop and infuse the organization with young talent fast enough.  If there is anything more damning than that of this organization’s ineptitude, given all of the high draft picks made by the Lions during the last 10 seasons, than I don’t know what it could be.

Lions were Truly Awful in Their Inauspicious Season Debut

You can cast aspersions upon me, or throw rotten fruit and vegetables at me, and you might as well go ahead and castigate me, since I really ought to know better.  My ridiculous, unfounded optimism for the Lions ‘08 season, an optimism that I knew that I was desperately unwise to hold onto, was rewarded Sunday with one of the worst Lions performances of recent memory.

Obviously, the Lions have had a lot of disastrous performances during recent seasons, but this game was an exquisite masterpiece of complete ineptitude.

For the Lions to start their season with this poor of a performance, where it would seem only reasonable that they would be highly motivated to play well,  against a rookie QB, and have their defense, a unit that the front office had devoted most of it’s attention to and supposedly upgraded in the off-season, be so absolutely dominated on the ground by the charitably, middle-of-the-pack Falcons offense, should be a terminable offense for Lions Defensive Coordinator Joe Barry, and possibly, Rod Marinelli, too.

I was also very disgusted by these damning comments made yesterday by Lions team captain, and overpaid loser, DT Cory Redding:

“This is a long season-don’t be trying to write us off,” (regretfully) Redding said. “I’m telling you, we’re good.  It just didn’t show up today.  This is a huge wake-up call for us.”

Assh*le, you are paid solely to play football.  16 of them to be exact. That’s it, not 15 or 14.  How can you earnestly, with a straight face, expect any struggling, hard-working Michigander to accept this loser’s lament, which has become a criminally over-used, and all-too-common refrain for the worst franchise in all of professional sports! Redding’s comments paraphrased, should have been:

“We’ll gladly pay you tomorrow, with a generous interest, of course, in return for a delicious hamburger today.”

I also don’t want to hear any more statements coming from anyone within the Allen Park cabal about looking at the “tape” to the determine the root of the team’s struggles, either.  The players and coaches should no longer be allowed to veil themselves behind this proverbial game “tape” ever again.

The Lions need to be painfully honest with themselves, and more importantly, the public, too.  The Lions will suck, and suck mightily, if this denial persists.  In fact, they will suck so much, that their record actually might as well be 31-infinity (during the 31-82 Matt Millen tenure). To be succinct, as long as Matt Millen and  Rod Marinelli are in charge, this TEAM WILL CONTINUE TO SUCK for the foreseeable future!!!!!

There would appear to be one available franchise savior, who should be summoned immediately, Bill Cowher.

Coach Cowher, along with several handpicked executives, would likely be the only available qualified candidate to enter Matt Millen’s morass, and emerge unscathed by the roiling flames of his failure.

Lions Vs. Falcons Preview

The mere fact that the Vegas oddsmakers make the Lions 3-point road favorites against the lowly Atlanta Falcons indicates the reservations that EVERYONE has about this team entering the season.   Make no mistakes, beginning the season with a road victory, would be a very small baby step towards NFL viability for the Lions.

In stronger terms, the Lions cannot afford to lose Sunday’s game in Atlanta.  It would be nothing short of disastrous.   The Falcons are starting a rookie QB Matt Ryan with a patchwork, inexperienced offensive line.

The Lions have been in that position before, as we well know, and any legitimate NFL contender will prey upon it with an untamed voracity.  That’s where the concern starts, the Lions are a shifty and unpredictable bunch.

Offensively, the Lions running attack simply has to be adequate enough to prevent the talented Atlanta DE’s John Abraham and Jamaal Anderson from pinning their ears and coming after Jon Kitna unabated.

If the Lions can impede the game-changing pass rush of Abraham, and maybe hope for a little assistance from the vulnerable Abraham’s largest foe, the injury bug, they will pick apart the Falcons secondary with Roy Williams and Calvin Johnson.

Look for the Lions to try and find ways to gain the match-up advantage against the ageless, and slow Falcons SS Lawyer Milloy in multi-receiver sets.   If the Falcons pass rush and blitz packages don’t get to Kitna, the Lions will have a field day.

On defense, the Lions want to put the game firmly into Matt Ryan’s hands.   The Lions, who were the NFL’s worst rushing defense in ‘07, and are about to find out what life is like without “Big Baby” Shaun Rogers in the middle of their defense, must slow the hydra-headed rushing attack of powerful Michael “The  Burner” Turner and the shifty Jerious Norwood.

If the Lions limit the damage from Turner and Norwood, they can begin to exploit Matt Ryan’s inexperience.   Ryan is not short of weapons on the outside, either.   Roddy White and Michael Jenkins will provide the Lions with a formidable test, especially given the relative weakness of the Lions pass rush and secondary in ‘07.

The Lions, at least on the surface, should be a moderately more successful defense this season.   The additions of Leigh Bodden, Dwight Smith, and Brian Kelly should pay dividends against the young Ryan.   Most importantly, the Lions pass rush will need to be a factor, so that Ryan is pressed into making quick decisions and moving his feet.

The Lions would watch the progress that they have made in the pre-season evaporate into the ether if they find the means to blow this game.   As a long-time Lions fan, it is easy to conjure the scenario where the Lions may potentially lose,  but the Lions have passed the eyeball test, so far, in this early stage of the season.   Lions 24 Falcons 13

Entering the season, my gut feeling was that the Lions are three or four win team this year.   Short of an injury to Jon Kitna, at this point, my expectations have risen to the lofty heights of a six or seven win season, and the Lions being an  unexpected win or two away from winning the awful NFC North.

Should this scenario play out, Lions fans optimism will enter a much fuller bloom.   In order for this to happen, the team’s young players need to step forward.   If Calvin Johnson, Kevin Smith, Gosder Cherilus, Ernie Sims, and Jordan Dizon emerge as the franchise building blocks that the Lions have planned for them to be, the team clearly will be taking a huge step forward.

Top Draft Picks Not Meeting Expectations…So Far

MLive.com’s Tom “Killer” Kowalski told WDFN sports talk in Detroit that the Lions have to be disappointed, and a little concerned, that T Gosder Cherilus, LB Jordan Dizon and RB Kevin Smith have yet to cement prominent roles with the team.

Ample opportunity remains for each of them to begin to assert themselves, but particularly in the case of Cherilus and Dizon, I believe it was in the Lions plans that they each would have usurped the stop-gap players who currently man their positions, by now.

Suffering through any sort of extended period of poor play by George Foster, and the diminished speed of a Lions defense  that features Lenon in the middle, has a major impact upon the projected success of each unit.

Kowalski posits that the addition of Rudi Johnson, a clear upgrade over the dispatched Tatum Bell, and a small victory for the organization, could be an indication of concern about the output of Kevin Smith.  I will hold judgment of Smith, until early returns can be interpreted.

I am eminently more concerned about the fact that the Lions only have three running backs on their current roster who would appear to be ready to shoulder the load.  Marcus Thomas has impressed the Lions, prior to his selection by the Chargers, but little is known about how ready he will be to contribute immediately.

Retiring Lions beat writer Mike O’Hara, has a much rosier outlook of the current Lions situation.  He said recently that Calvin Johnson “is currently one of the 10 best players in the NFL” and the Lions are “quietly high on quarterback Drew Stanton”, both players making significant progress this off-season.

Of Stanton, O’Hara says, “He didn’t look great in drills, but on the field, he’s a player. He’s an athlete-quarterback who makes plays.”  O’Hara also says that the “Lions have more good, young players on the roster than at any time since Jerry Ball, Bennie Blades, Chris Spielman, Herman Moore, and Barry Sanders were coming into their prime.”

O’Hara indicates that the Lions are legitimate playoff contenders and that ” Ernie Sims, Calvin Johnson, Roy Williams, Gosder Cherilus, Jerome Felton, Andre Fluellen, Kevin Smith, Daniel Bullocks, Gerald Alexander, Ikaika Alama-Francis (”watch him develop this year”), Jordan Dizon, Dan Orlovsky, and Drew Stanton will form the nucleus of the team”

Entering Sunday’s game, I have become a little more optimistic, but the Lions fatalist in me has a strong hold, too. Injuries, under-performing players (Backus, Foster, Redding, and the secondary), and the unexpected, bizarre nightmare scenarios which perennially seem to bewitch the Lions all still loom large.

Only The Lions…

Only the Lions would release one running back, Tatum Bell, and sign another one, Rudi Johnson, and eventually have Bell, out of both a healthy dose of spite and a overflowing dollop of poor judgment, steal a few of Johnson’s bags.

These circumstances rank right up there with a defensive line coach going through the Hardee’s drive-thru naked, or a coach(es) allegedly get busted with cocaine.

Lions fans have developed a thick skin through time with all of the embarassment they have endured, and thankfully, Bell has been ejected from the organization and this situation will leave little residue.

Another interesting situation that has emerged recently is the comments from an interview made by Matt Millen in an interview with SI’s Peter King.  Millen suggests that Shaun Rogers, who was traded in the off-season for CB Leigh Bodden, who is still battling with Travis Fisher for a starting job, and a draft pick, which brought the Lions Andre Fluellen, will be a defensive player of the year, if he remains healthy.

This brings the immediate question to mind, how do you trade a potential defensive player of the year, admittedly an enigmatic and problematic player, and not suffer from a heavy dose of regret.  As the Lions world turns…

Lions Roster Still Unsettled, Rudi Johnson is an Auspicious Addition

The Lions had a busy weekend of roster shuffling.  First, they released LB Anthony Cannon and TE/FB Sean McHugh and veteran ex-Bucs LB Ryan Nece (Ronnie Lott’s son) and rookie RB Marcus Thomas.   In an even bigger move, the Lions released the disappointing and vestigial RB Tatum Bell and added recently released RB Rudi Johnson, a clear roster upgrade.

Ryan Nece posesses a lot of experience in the Tampa-Two, but will have to make an immediate impact on special teams if he is going to represent an upgrade over Cannon.   I have to admit, I know absolutely nothing about Marcus Thomas.

Adding Johnson, in my opinion, is a clear victory for the Lions.  Johnson, likely no longer the workhorse back he once was, will give the Lions a capable short-yardage, goal-line and 4th quarter back.   Johnson is a physical, determined runner, who admittedly, is less dynamic than Tatum Bell, but will be infinitely more dependable for the long run.

The Lions are going to be very short-handed when it comes to fullbacks and h-backs with the release of McHugh.  I have always like McHugh, and expect that there is a good chance that he will eventually be back.

Dan Campbell is an important figure on the roster now.   The Lions may have to consider putting him on the PUP or IR if he isn’t available soon.   I believe that Michael Gaines and Casey FitzSimmons can provide what the Lions need in the interim, but ultimately I believe that the Lions could also use a player that provides what McHugh brought them, too.