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Millen Says Lions Should "Stay the Course"

Egret

By Egret,
in Fantasy Football

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Furd Huddler

Furd

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Millen is divorced from reality.

 

Consistent. Disciplined. Now there's a ringing endorsment of Marinelli and the Lions.

 

What about talent? What about effort? What about scouting? What about attitude? What about character? What about game plans? What about fundementals?

 

The Lions lack all of this. But because Marinelli is getting "character guys", its all going to turn around? They can't even rebuild right - they have the second oldest team in the NFL.

 

Its f'n surreal.

 

:wacko:

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Furd Huddler

Furd

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Posted

What a mess: Many share blame for pitiful Lions

 

The schedule says Detroit is going to San Francisco on Sunday.

 

Reality says the Lions are going nowhere -- again.

 

After an undefeated exhibition season, the Lions started talking about finally making their move, about finally becoming relevant in the NFL after a dismal decade. Rod Marinelli finally had his guys in place, the type of players he needed to win consistently.

 

The seven straight losing seasons in the Matt Millen era were soon to be forgotten.

 

Instead, after ugly losses the first two games, the team appears headed to another embarrassing season.

 

The Lions have been outscored 82-46. The defense is rancid. The offense is horrible, most of the time. And Marinelli, who sounded so much like a football coach everybody wanted to play for, seems overwhelmed.

 

And worst of all, Millen, the team's president, walks around Ford Field in silence. The same man who arrived here and did TV commercials in an attempt to sell his team to Motown, has nothing to say.

 

Defense

It stinks. There is no other way to describe it. And its ranking in the NFL proves that. Last season, it was last in the league. This season, it's second-to-last. Yes, the Rams actually have allowed more yards per game, but the Lions have given up more points -- 82 in two games compared to 79.

 

If it's not Atlanta's 318 yards on the ground in Week 1, it's Aaron Rodgers' 324 yards in the air and three TDs on Sunday for Green Bay.

 

For the three years since Marinelli has taken over, we've heard different excuses. The first year, it was Donnie Henderson, the defensive coordinator, didn't run the system Marinelli wanted. He was fired and Marinelli brought in Joe Barry, his son-in-law.

 

Last year, despite having Barry in charge, the Lions allowed a league-leading 444 points. Not even the Dolphins, who won just one game, gave up that many points. In their defense, Marinelli said they didn't have the right players to run the Tampa 2 defense.

 

This season, they added seven former Tampa Bay Buccaneers -- including cornerback Brian Kelly, who was awful vs. Green Bay on Sunday -- to solve that. It hasn't helped. Going back to last season, the Lions have lost nine of their last 10 games and have given up 34.4 points a game. This season, with Marinelli's guys, they are allowing 41 points a game.

 

Offense

It's not the juggernaut many thought it would be with two bookend stud receivers in Calvin Johnson and Roy Williams.

 

Sure, they can make plays and score points. But you still get the sense that they also can drop balls and are not a serious threat all the time, disappearing way too often. Even the Packers defensive players dissed both players, saying that they can't get off the line with authority, that they can be jammed.

 

And the play-calling for Johnson and Williams is shaky at best. How can Williams get only three catches on Sunday? Both should be earmarked with 10 catches each and every week. They are too good, too talented to have a stat line like Williams had against the Packers: three catches and 48 yards. Thus far, Williams has just six catches for 95 yards and one touchdown. That should be a game, not two. Johnson, the second-best in yards per game, has 13 receptions and two TDs.

 

But the reason these two will never be the feared Twin Towers most expect them to be is because the Lions can't run the football. They blamed it all on offensive genius/madman Mike Martz, who was fired after last season. Marinelli claimed that Martz wouldn't run the ball and he wanted a more balanced attack.

 

Honestly, though, the Lions haven't run the ball well enough as a weapon since Barry Sanders sneaked out of town via the back door. They have high hopes for running back Kevin Smith, who had just 10 carries for 40 yards on Sunday. Good luck with that lame offensive line.

 

This offense simply doesn't rate.

 

Kitna

A lot of that has to do with Jon Kitna being your quarterback. It's not what he does, it's what he doesn't do.

 

No, not win -- although that's a problem, too.

 

It's that Kitna never throws a touchdown to win the game. He has been here for three seasons. Think hard and come up with the situation when Kitna left the field with his head up, not down. Last season, Kitna had three possessions to beat the Giants at the end and he couldn't do it.

 

Sunday, when Kitna threw three interceptions in the fourth quarter, was an aberration. That was the absolute worst. But it's late in games, when it really matters, when Kitna becomes unglued and usually will cost you a game.

 

Granted, Kitna has a lot of heart and talks a big game. But his mouth can't cash the checks that it writes. In his career, Kitna has as many picks as touchdowns. This season, Kitna has four TDs and four interceptions. Plus, he has been sacked eight times already.

 

And yes, the offensive line isn't good and doesn't always give him a lot of time to get rid of the ball, but he has a bad habit of holding onto the ball too long and taking sacks that he shouldn't. He also doesn't make plays. You saw Rodgers on Sunday sidestep defenders and making accurate throws on the run. The NFL is very simple. It's about making plays. Period. Kitna doesn't make enough of them.

 

Future

That's the scary part about the Lions. Nobody can look at this roster and honestly say that the future is bright. That's how bad the drafting has been. The same goes for the development of players once they get here.

 

Aside from a handful of players -- Ernie Sims, Johnson and perhaps Smith -- there aren't many players that are true keepers, a foundation to winning football. And that's sad when you realize that the Lions are the fourth-oldest team in the NFL.

 

Look at the quarterback position. Even if you wanted to make a change and give Dan Orlovsky or Drew Stanton a shot, when he gets healthy, neither has shown you a thing to believe that he is the quarterback of the future. The Packers didn't have to panic over the loss of Favre. They drafted Rodgers and groomed him to be ready to take over. Thus far, the Packers -- who won 13 games and the NFC North last season -- are 2-0.

 

Marinelli

Marinelli has been a bust as a head coach. He looks, sounds and acts like a football coach. But he can't coach.

 

That's clear now. Either Marinelli's message of fundamentals and hard work isn't getting through to the players or the talent is just pitiful. First, you thought it was the talent that Millen brought in. Now, you have to be convinced that Marinelli can't get the job done. After all, these are his guys. He has drafted players and signed free agents and yet he still hasn't had any results to be proud of.

 

It was a gamble in the first place to hire a coach without any previous head-coaching experience. But that's what the Lions did when they got Marinelli, the defensive line coach from Tampa Bay.

 

It was funny at first when Marinelli talked about looking at the tape. But sometimes, you can tell by the smell alone that his team has laid another egg. Yet, he'll never address what went wrong and always talks about going back to work. It's too easy to do that and not assign blame to players or coaches.

 

The only thing more alarming than his lack of success -- a 10-24 win-loss record thus far -- is that his son-in-law, Joe Barry, and Barry's father are both on staff. And as poorly as the defense has played, Marinelli -- supposedly a defensive guy -- hasn't been objective about Barry's job performance. Most in Barry's position wouldn't have been retained after last season. Marinelli wants to take the blame for everything. It sounds cool, but it's an old bit.

 

Millen

Millen is the worst general manager in pro sports history. The bad part is that most wouldn't argue over that statement. No one, especially in the NFL, will ever get a chance to compile a 31-83 record in seven-plus seasons.

 

People outside of Detroit just can't figure out how he keeps his job without getting results. Everybody knows you have to build a team from the trenches out. Yet, Millen wasted first-round picks on offensive players, including quarterback Joey Harrington and receiver Mike Williams.

 

The only thing worse than his drafting is Millen's hiding. That's what bothers the fans the most, and with good reason. Millen, who was front and center when he arrived, is nowhere to be found these days.

 

Many believe that if he hasn't been fired yet that there's no way he'll ever be removed. Not true. You have to believe that if this season is the disaster it's shaping up to be that Millen will either finally be fired or step down.

 

And in this case, quitting would be a noble gesture. Sometimes it's OK to say, "No mas."

 

The Fords

Bill Ford Jr. might have been the man who brought Matt Millen to town, but he wants him gone now. Apparently, it has caused a rift between father and son, and Jr. and owner William Clay Ford are not talking right now.

 

Fans -- who have cried on talk radio for years that nothing will change until Ford sells the team -- have almost given up hope that Ford will do the right thing because he hasn't for so many years. Don't forget that the Lions have won just one playoff game in 51 years. Ford has owned the team outright since 1964.

 

For sure, Ford is loyal to a fault, keeping people around who haven't produced. Remember GM Russ Thomas. Nonetheless, if Ford saw all those empty seats and suites for the season opener, he has to know that the natives are really restless. For the first time at Ford Field, a TV blackout seems inevitable this season

 

:wacko:

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Square Huddler

Square

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Posted

"Don't forget that the Lions have won just one playoff game in 51 years"

 

Jebus, I didn't realize it was that bad. I guess I thought they might have been good in the 70s or something. I grew up watching Barry Sanders and considered myself a bit of a Lions fan (no real local team) but I've used the line "recovering Lions fan" the last couple years. They've been so bad its hard to keep up who is starting at the positions (outside of FF) because they will never televise their games in my area anymore. I know its not cool for anybody to stop being a fan but I don't think I can take anymore. If they do get rid of Millen I will definitely be interested and try to follow the team again, but the incompetence has been mind-boggling.

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