Detroit Lions Weblog

It’s Always Darkest Before Dawn

No, I am not delusional. There is no conceivable way that the Lions could actually be any worse than they played Thursday. They are easily the worst franchise in all of professional sports history (0-12, 1-19, 31-93). A 37 point loss, in a game that was supposed to represent the best that the organization can offer, was an unmitigated disaster.

In fact, Thursday’s loss, as horrifying as it was, should be just the kind of embarrassment necessary to provide the impetus for the Ford’s to fully realize the depths to which their franchise has actually sunk.

If the Ford’s have any pride at all, and have any desire whatsoever for their team to ever become competitive, Thursday’s performance should begin the process of peeling away the thick, sinewy layers of denial that have prevented a credible rebuilding program from beginning for years now.

As I watched an uncontested Chris Johnson run 58 yards through the middle of the Lions defense untouched for a score, I realized that no moment was more reflective of how bad the Lions had become.  Furthermore, the gaping void in the middle of the Lions defense can serve as an analogy to the vast, competitive deficit between the two franchises who played Thursday.

Johnson’s run should become a rallying cry of sorts, a demarcating line, which should define the failings of the current franchise and a line which a healthier, more cohesive, newer-franchise-to-come would use a point that can’t be penetrated again. The Lions have found rock bottom.

The process has to begin now.   After hearing Rod Marinelli’s ridiculous comments that he had no reason to believe that he would not be back as head coach next season, it is time for the Ford’s to speak.

They have to acknowledge the obvious, no one in their coaching staff or front office staff with any authority whatsoever will return next season. Furthermore, anyone who is not on board with any sort of new organizational program, should be terminated, too.

The franchise is so tainted with toxins that it’s only saving grace will be to go nuclear.  The stench of failure will be difficult to remove, but Lions fans, and the ownership will be very eager to see it finally happen.

The Lions need to rebuild the franchise in the image of the citizens of the state of Michigan who are loyal, steadfast and hard-working.  I believe that at one time, the franchise did reflect the inhabitant’s of the state, but much like the Ford’s flagging auto business, the Lions have lost sight of what made them successful in the past, along with making the necessary proactive changes that needed to come as time transpires.

The Lions will have to utilize a model drawn from the leadership of a successful franchise, when they hire a new GM.  The Lions will also need to be sure that they are not reduced to mere mimicry, which I believe diffuses the strength of any particular organizational philosophy.

The new front office should embody one of the bedrock, physical, midwestern-style franchises like Pittsburgh, Tennessee, the New York Giants, or Baltimore but still have it’s own unique identity.

The team needs to establish a new identity, the kind of rough-hewn identity that sends a message to players like Lendale White, who openly admitted that the Titans viewed facing the Lions as a sure, walk-over victory.  This smirking, assured confidence should be wiped off of the faces of future Lions opponents with a physically punishing style.  No quarter should ever be forebeared again.

Week 13: Do You Like Your Turkey’s Roasted, Fried, or Just Plain Cooked?

The Lions, forming a most convenient analogy, are being widely-heralded as turkey’s entering their 69th Thanksgiving Day game.  Major media outlets ESPN (Mike and Mike), USA Today ( The Huddle ,please vote!), and even CBS’ “Iron Mike” Ditka, whom you would like to believe would actually be enough of a conventional, NFL purist that he would support the Lions retaining their annual game, have all decried the Lions possessing such a prime time slot for their Thanksgiving game, or their playing at all for that matter.

Anyone who has been reading my entries recently has read that I believe that the NFL should penalize the Lions for their mismanaged franchise, which has persisted despite the organizational structures the league has installed to avoid such an eventuality.  With my tacit support of the NFL taking the annual Thanksgiving Day game from the organization, even I am a little taken back by the growing disenchantment directed at the Lions for playing in such a premium game with a far less than premium team.

Given the Lions 0-11 start and the growing dissent over the Lions playing it’s annual game, where does that leave the franchise as they march towards infamy?  They are facing an incredibly difficult opponent (10-1) in the Tennessee Titans, what chances do they have in altering their current historical course?

Well, the Lions will need a little assistance from the Titans.  The Titans feature an efficient, conservative offense that runs the with the ball very well, and a defense that protects them from having to score many points in any particular game.  If the Lions stand any chance, they will need to slow RB Chris Johnson and Lendale White and hope that the Titans turn the ball over at least twice, but any more would be very helpful!

We will know the mettle and determination of the Lions players very early in the game.  The Titans are a brutally physical bunch with defenders like DE Kyle Van Den Bosch, LB Keith Bulluck, DT Albert Haynesworth, and playmaking DB’s Cortland Finnegan and Michael Griffin all being among the best at their respective positions leaguewide, the Lions offense could possibly get physically dominated and enter shell shock.

The essential difference between this game being remotely close and it devolving into a complete and total blowout will be the relative success of each team’s passing game.  If the Culpepper to Johnson combo can offset big plays from Kerry Collins to Justin Gage, Brandon Jones, and Alge Crumpler, with some of their own, the Lions may still remain competitive through the 3rd quarter.

If not, the Lions could face a bloodbath similar to the ones they received while facing Indianapolis and Atlanta during recent Thanksgiving Day games.  Unfortunately, as much as I want to hope for a solid effort, I believe the Lions body of work speaks for itself.   Titans 31 Lions (0-12, 31-93, 1-19 since mid-season ‘07) 10

The real mystery remains, Does Rod Marinelli coach beyond tomorrow’s game?

Rick Gosselin, one of the finest NFL talent evaluators and columnists today, has written an interesting article entitled “Motor City Mess” , where he comments upon the Lions current situation and the potential franchise Qb’s that they could consider selecting in the upcoming draft.  It is a worthwhile read, even if the mere mention of the organization selecting a QB in the draft, likely 1st overall, makes me recoil in fear and sends me into bouts of incoherent babbling (at least more than normal) (Addition: I emailed Gosselin with my opinion.  Surprisingly, he responded. He says that all of the empty seats will coerce the Ford’s to want to select a QB, so that they can make a big media splash, thus putting asses back into their overpriced seats. I digress…)

Lions Paying Price For Continued Poor Decision-Making Practices

The Lions entered the season with a serviceable, admittedly an erratic and disgruntled one, veteran QB in Jon Kitna.   Shortly after the season began, the Lions decided to shelve him, likely just as much due to his rising discontent with the organization as it was to the severity of his back injury.

Fast forward, the Lions now find themselves in the unenviable position of having to trot out a rusty, barely competent QB in Daunte Culpepper, having two young QB’s who are suffering from injury in Dan Orlovsky and Drew Stanton, and are likely going to have turn to backup Drew Henson in their upcoming Thanksgiving Day game, given that Culpepper has only completed one of his three starts.

I don’t think Culpepper has been awful, but I wonder if this nightmare scenario could have been avoided, had they settled their dispute with Kitna by benching him, rather than excommunicating him.

The Lions also have compounded several other problems this season.   The Lions have traded Roy Williams, Shaun Rogers, and Dre Bly, all moves which I have openly supported, but have failed to glean full value (at least with Bly and Rogers) in return for those players.

In particular, the Rogers and Bly trades have been disastrous.  Leigh Bodden, likely will be retained, much like mediocre players like Jeff Backus and Cory Redding, because the team can ill-afford to open up any more gaping roster holes.

Bodden, who has been awful, seems uncomfortable with the zone defense and the Lions will likely retain him, and his large bonus, since they have so few options upon their current roster.

We don’t even need to elaborate about the Lions receiving George Foster and Tatum Bell for Bly.

What I find most disconcerting is, that from a coaching standpoint, the Lions were unable to gain productive seasons from Kalimba Edwards and Damien Woody, two players who have been much better upon leaving the franchise.

Ultimately, when the Lions are down 31-7 in 3rd quarter to the Titans, and a green, yet rusty Drew Henson removes the clipboard from his clutches and takes off the headset, and commences to commit abominations all over the Ford Field turf, remember the Lions had Jon Kitna at their disposal, but they chose to chop off their nose to spite their face.

This Says It All:31-92, 1-18

The Lions are thoroughly pathetic.   Think about it.  During a 31-92 seven year run, and a 1-18 record over the last 19 games, the Lions have hit many lows.  Rock bottom will eventually be found when the team finally achieves it’s unavoidable destiny, an 0-16 season.

The Lions started with a 17-0 lead in their home game against the Bucs on Sunday.  The winning percentage of teams who score first in any NFL game is very high, let alone beginning a game with this kind of scoring advantage.  The Lions still found the means to blow their exceptional start to the game and lost by a decisively large margin.

The fact is, the Lions are a team that can’t overcome adversity, nor can it maintain prosperity.  The player’s are responsible for their individual on-field performances, but more importantly, the Lions coaches have failed miserably in managing the team when the game is at a pivotal point and hanging in the balance.

The Lions convenient excuse for not having already issued Rod Marinelli his termination papers is that there is no viable interim coaching candidate currently on Marinelli’s staff.   The sad and bitter truth is, the firing of Marinelli mid-season wouldn’t likely garner any sort of additional spark or focus out of this sad-sack bunch.

That being said, with a short week of preparation, and the Titans possessing a stirred-up-hornet’s-nest level of anger after losing their first game this weekend, I expect Thanksgiving to be a brutal and unremitting beatdown.  Sadly, on a national stage, the Lions will likely be passive and submissive.

Veteran kicker and captain Jason Hanson said after the game that the team’s performance was “embarrassing” and the team should have plenty of motivation to ratchet up their intensity, since they should desire to do everything in their power to avoid going winless this season.

Should the Lions come out against the Titans and appear flat and lacking fire, then it is time for the Ford’s to break off their current coaching staff, even if it means that the staff remains in place for the last four games.

I believe that the organization would benefit from publicly acknowledging what has been readily apparent for several weeks now, that their current coaching staff will not be retained after the ‘08 season is completed.

The Lions annual Thanksgiving game is a wonderful privilege and the franchise’s once rich tradition provided them with an invested sense of the game possessing a rare and genuine import.  Now the game’s outcome seems immaterial to them.

If the Lions continue to desecrate and defame their once proud tradition, especially the Thanksgiving Day game, by playing poorly Thursday, then their will be little left for Lions fans to cling to.

The Lions need to realize now that they are playing this week’s game for a lot more than it’s final outcome.  Decisions that they make from here on out should have no bearing on their current pathetic 0-16 season, but should stand as an open acknowledgment that the status quo is unacceptable and that the team’s future will take a dramatically different path from it’s current course.

Week 12: Mason Vs. Dizon, Superman Vs. Bizarro Superman?

Rod Marinelli did his best to re-make the Lions organization into a reasonable facsimile of his previous employer, and Sunday’s opponent, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

Marinelli’s efforts have obviously failed miserably, if an 0-10 records serves as any sort of indicator. The Lions roster is awash with Buccaneer flotsam, veteran players who were supposed to cement the organization, especially on defense, who have been generally disappointing.

Other than injured DE DeWayne White, it is arguable that all of the ex-Buccaneer acquisitions have been just as awful as anyone that Matt Millen would have normally signed as free agents.  This an indictment of Marinelli, which will mark his soon to be finished three year tenure as the team’s head coach.

That brings us to a another “blacked-out” home contest as the Lions continue their march towards the once unfathomable, an 0-16 season record.  To add to the torture, the Bucs are lead by ex-Lion QB Jeff Garcia, who has experienced a late career renaissance of sorts, much like several other grey-bearded, 35(+)-year old QB’s around the league, due to the dearth of quality QB talent entering the game.  Garcia’s tenure in Detroit was not a good one, but he will likely enjoy his visit to Detroit this Sunday, though.

The Lions defense has been so bad, that they should negotiate a pre-game deal with their opponents stipulating that opposing QB’s who meet contract escalators (bonuses) due to enjoying abnormally large amounts of success against the Lions weak defense should actually tip the team.  Most of the QB’s who have faced the Lions this season have enjoyed either season-high or career-high QB ratings.

Offensively, the Lions will be facing a very tough, playmaking defense, the kind that Rod Marinelli was supposed to be bringing with him to Detroit.  The Bucs consistently pressure opposing QB’s and have LB’s and DB’s who are capable of keeping opponents contained, rarely allowing costly large-gaining plays.

Ultimately, I believe the game comes down to the Lions ability to stop the Buccaneers rushing game, with Earnest Graham finished for the season, “Cadillac” Williams limited, and Warrick Dunn continuing to survive in the NFL against all odds.

If Dunn keeps Buccaneer drives going, and FB B.J. Askew can contribute in goal-line and short-yardage situations, the Lions will be in for a long day.   As good as Jeff Garcia is capable of playing, the Bucs are relatively short on weapons when it come to their passing attack.

Besides volatile Antonio Bryant, the Bucs depend upon Michael Clayton and rapidly-aging veterans Joey Galloway and Ike Hilliard.  Bucs TE Jerramy Stevens appears to be an emerging target for Garcia, too.

Ultimately, the Bucs will allow the Lions offense to take enough rope to hang  themselves with, and the Bucs offense will be just effective enough to pull away in the 4th quarter.

Bucs 24 Lions 13

Lions Add S (Braun) Schweigert, Pioli For Next GM?

The Lions added S Stuart Schweigert, who had a promising beginning to his career in Oakland, but has experienced an Archuleta-like fall from grace and become more of a journeymen.

Given that Schweigert is a Michigander (Saginaw), and is desperate for work, maybe the Lions could get lucky and find a productive player who could eventually carve out a more substantial, long-term role. With all of the “success” that the team’s current secondary has enjoyed, he may have a difficult time getting onto the field, though.

SI.com’s Don Banks has suggested the Lions ownership should resist their urge to retain Tom Lewand, who would likely retain Martin Mayhew or add Philly’s Tom Heckert to the organization as the team’s chief personnel executive.

Banks, like so many others, believes that the Lions should strike while the iron’s hot and add the Pats Scott Pioli, who would like the challenge of putting his stamp on the organization.  It would allow Pioli to move from under the suffocating shadows of both his father-in-law, Bill Parcells, and also from under “Little Bill”, Bill Belichick, too.

Given the success of ex-Pats Asst. GM Thomas Dimitroff in Atlanta, and Pioli’s already impressive winning pedigree, maybe the Ford’s will come to their senses and open their pocketbooks to acquire Pioli’s services.

At this point, it is likely clear to everyone, but the Ford’s, that the status quo will not get the job done, no matter how much promise Mayhew has shown during his limited time in charge.

Lions Kickers, The 1983 Playoff Loss to the Niners

Of late, I have been highly critical of the Lions organization, which is obviously a warranted criticism.  That being said, if there is one thing that the Lions have done right throughout the years, at least since 1980, it is selecting kickers.

The mere fact, given all of the tumult and roster turnover that has occurred within the Lions organization, that the Lions have had only two kickers in 28 seasons is thoroughly astounding.

In particular, the impact of Jason Hanson, in my opinion, never has been fully appreciated.   Hanson drilled a 56-yard kick, with the wind aiding him, in Charlotte Sunday, against the Panthers.

It’s truly amazing, that one of the primary criticisms of Sunday’s coaching performance by Rod Marinelli was that Hanson wasn’t allowed to attempt a 58/59 yard field goal during the game’s third quarter.  Think about that for a second.  How many kickers have ever earned such a high level of confidence among both fans and media observers that when, in most cases, weighing the chances of that kick actually being made versus the importance of maintaining a primacy of field position at the game’s late juncture, that nearly every coach would elect to punt in 95% of similar situations, and no one would question it?

In other words, the criticism being tendered is, Jason Hanson is an excellent enough kicker that Rod Marinelli should have defied the odds and common sense logic, and gave his best player, on an admittedly 0-10 team, a shot at making a nearly 60-yard field goal!

Hanson has done an excellent job this season, and figures to remain a franchise fixture for the foreseeable future.  The importance of this constant of dependability, since 1980, will never be fully appreciated until the Lions have to hand that unenviable task to another player, hopefully, a long time down the road.

I have a friend who lent me dvr’d  copies of the Lions crushing 1983 playoff loss to the San Francisco 49ers, during the franchises 50th season.  Other than the ambivalent mix of good and bad memories that viewing the game stirred up, it was a brilliant game, nonetheless.

The Lions Gary Danielson, if you recall, replacing an injured Eric Hipple,  threw 5 interceptions.   Many Lions fans obsess over Eddie Murray missing a last second field goal, which would have won the game, but seem to forget that he had also missed one earlier from a similar distance, too.

Given these two facts alone, the Lions had no business even being in the ballgame, against a Niners team helmed by Joe Montana.  In this particular case, the Lions possessed a punishing defense and an excellent defensive front, which caused the Niners offense to spin it’s wheels all day.

Billy Sims, amid a very public contract squabble, had an excellent day and flashed his knack for making big plays and a nose for the end zone.  He even got to exhibit his celebratory high step, as he kicked the final few yards into the end zone untouched, to cap one drive.

The image that will be forever etched in my mind, and is emblematic of the failings of the Lions organization, is the close up shot of then Lions Head Coach Monte Clark as Murray was about to attempt his kick.  Clark, with a look of complete submission and desperation, looked skyward, and pressed his hands together in supplication.

In my many years of watching televised sports, I have rarely seen such a genuinely human and heartfelt moment from any team’s head coach.

What is even more poignant, and pivotal, given the Lions current situation of being 0-10, and their well-documented struggles during the last 25 seasons, is that when Murray actually misses the kick, Monte Clark’s visage becomes an oracular view of things to come.  He has the most defeated, devastated look that you can ever imagine.

In my estimation, from that point on, the Lions have never fully recovered as an organization.  They had reached a certain vista, after a multitude of seasons worth of extremely hard work, and from the point on have never quite regained their organizational footing.  Rather than achieving even a marginal foothold, they continue to slip further and further downward.

Clark’s expression is the same expression that each of us wears when we have attempted to, with an unchecked zealotry, accomplish a goal or mission, and subsequently, experienced desolate failure.

If there is one moment which can convey and sum up the failures of the last 25 years of Lions football, Clark’s pained, gagging-back-vomit-because-he-is-so-completely-overwhelmed-with-instant-grief look, says it all.

The Lions Deserve to Lose Their Most Esteemed Organizational Prize

The Lions will very likely be carrying an 0-11 record into their upcoming, nationally-televised, annual Thanksgiving Day game.  The Lions are currently “celebrating”, or more aptly, desecrating their 75th season as a NFL franchise.

Amid this desecration, the Lions still cling dearly to their one heavily-televised game, at least off of the field.  The Ford’s are big advertising contributors to the league, and utilize that as their leverage to stave off the naysayers at various media outlets who believe that the Lions perennial ineptitude should disqualify them from keeping the annual Turkey Day game and it’s prime broadcast position.

I would imagine that several other envious owners league-wide, in hushed, but growing louder tones, would like a slice of the Thanksgiving Day (monetary) pumpkin pie, too.

In my 30 years as a Lions fan, and four as a blogger, I never thought I would fully embrace this idea: The NFL should penalize the Lions for their inability to keep their organization credible and competitive.  The Lions should lose their annual Turkey Day game.

Recently, ex-Lion Lomas Brown was interviewed on ESPN Radio.  In that interview, Brown is unequivocable when he states that recent Lions players have no appreciation of what an honor the tradition of playing in the annual game is.

Brown: “The team doesn’t look at it as a tradition. When we were there, and I was fortunate to play in 11 of those games, that was a game you circled as soon as the schedule came out.”  Brown later states “We took pride in going out and winning that game.  We were the first game that you would see that day, and we took a lot of pride in it.  And they just don’t do that (now).”

The proof is in the pudding.  The Lions have lost four straight (and six of the past seven) games in their most high-profile game of each and every season.  They have been thoroughly embarrassed throughout that criminally arduous process.

The normally intransigent Ford’s were so embarrassed during one loss, that they uncharacteristically dropped the axe on Steve Mariucci’s brief, disappointing tenure as the team’s head coach.  Will they do the same to Rod Marinelli if he is unable to rally the troops and give at least a marginally-competitive performance against the Titans?

As much as I thought that the Lions could sink no lower than losing to Joey Harrington, as he QB’ed the Miami Dolphins against his former team, this season should easily trump that.

I don’t see any way in which the Lions will not be completely dismantled by the Tennessee Titans, who, if they enter the game 11-0, will be jacked to the gills, and looking to put the Lions away early, so that they can rest key players and avoid injury, as they march towards the playoffs.

The biggest losers are the Lions fans, themselves.   Lions fans deserve a winner, and would like to enjoy more than just a tryptophan-induced coma after watching another Lions embarrassing performance on Thanksgiving.  More than one fan has likely shrieked “Thanks for Nothing, A*holes!” in response to the Lions futility.

So I implore you Roger Goodell, do the right thing.  Hit the Ford’s where it truly hurts.  Take the annual Thanksgiving Day game away from this moribund nightmare of a NFL franchise!

Week 11 Preview: How Many Different Ways Can an 0-16 Team Get Em-Bare-Assed!

The Lions go on the road to face the 7-2 Carolina Panthers this week.  The Panthers who have struggled mightily to reach their 7-2 record, are a bad match-up, at a bad time, for the Lions.

Panther QB Jake Delhomme threw four interceptions last week in an abysmal game against the Oakland Raiders. Nothing reinvigorates an opposing QB like facing the Lions soft, swiss cheese (holes, you know?)-like zone coverage.   Teams don’t find voids in the Lions zone, they find virtual gulfs!

Adding insult to injury, the Lions will be without starting DE’s DeWayne White and Jared DeVries.   That mean’s the high-ceiling tandem of “Kalimba 2.0″ Alama-Francis and Cliff Avril will get their shot at attempting to generate more consistent pressure for the Lions defense.

So besides Jake Delhomme throwing the ball with ease to WR’s Steve Smith and Michigander Muhsin Muhammad while systemematically cutting threw the Lions defense, the Panthers will also try to keep the Lions offense off of the field by utilizing their RB’s DeAngelo Williams and Jonathan Stewart in ball control, as they pound away at the feeble Lions defense.

That’s it, other than the likelihood that Julius Peppers will embarass both Gosder Cherilus and Jeff Backus repeatedly, I don’t know what else to say about the Lions chances in this game.

As the Lions face some of their toughest challenges of the season in the upcoming weeks, I expect for the team to throw in the towel, as they continue to be demoralized.   The Lions are going to face several physical teams who are fighting for their playoff livelihood’s, which does not bode well for an 0-whatever team, who has won one game in it’s last 17.

The Lions are a very bad team.  Generally, bad teams don’t win a game on the road, unless it is handed to them outright.  Six more games until history is achieved.

Carolina 32 Lions 14

The Sun Rises, Indefatigable Journeymen Aveion Cason Signs With the Lions, Drew Henson Gets Cut, The Sun Sets

Other than the overabundance of losses each season, nothing exemplifies a Lions season like adding journeymen RB Aveion Cason to the Lions roster, who has only been signed and released 17 times in his Lions tenure.

If there is a criticism that can be directed at Rod Marinelli, among so many, it is that he has been way too conservative in regards to the importance of an effective special teams return game.   The Lions futile offense needs all of the field position assistance that it can gain.  Enter Cason.

The Lions also released WR Brandon Middleton and Drew Henson, and subsequently added PR/WR Adam Jennings, who was recently released by the Falcons. Apparently, Marinelli is beginning to see the importance of a returns game to supplement the team’s weak offense and even weaker defense, in the grand scheme of things.

In regards to Cason, his NFL journey is worthy of a book.  Whenever it looks like his career has reached it’s end, it rises zombie-like from the grave.

Drew Henson still fits into the Lions plans, on some level.  If he goes unsigned, he will return to the practice squad. The Lions would like him to spend an off-season within their program, assuming the current staff somehow miraculously remains intact.

The Lions are going to need a little help from Cason and Jennings, their upcoming schedule is going to be nothing less than a meat grinder, for sure.