Detroit Lions’ Offensive Line: A Pleasant Surprise?

I was perusing through some news articles on the Detroit Lions and came across Tom Kolwalski’s article.

His first paragraph gives most Lions fans the hope we’ve been looking for over the past decade: An offensive line that actually works!

Last season, the Lions attempted to incorporate a zone blocking system that relied more on finesse than pure strength. In the zone blocking system, the idea was to hold the line of scrimmage and stretch out the defense and hope the running back finds a crease to run through.

Offensive Coordinator Scott Linehan has done away with the zone blocking system and is incorporating more of a “smash mouth” blocking system. Here, the line surges forward, pushing the defense back on it’s heels two yards back. Instead of waiting and reacting to the defense, the idea is to allow the offensive line attack the defense and dictate where the play is going to go.

Both coaches, Linehan and Offensive Line Coach George Yarno are stressing the running game. Makes sense since a successful running game controls the clock, keeps the opposing defense on the field longer and allows for big plays in the passing game.

The Detroit Lions offensive line has been the one area of their offense that has garnered the most criticism over the past decade, more so over the past three seasons as they allowed 166 sacks in that time frame. 

But much of that had to do with the Mike Martz offense which didn’t allow any help from the tight-end or running backs to block on passing plays. They were sent out in pass patterns and the quarterback had to be nimble enough to avoid sacks, a connection not often used in describing a Lion quarterback.

Collectively, the Lions’ offensive line has made a pretty good connection with Yarno who played guard in the NFL for 10 years, eight of them with Tampa Bay from 1979 to 1987. 

In the article, center Dominic Raiola is quited as saying “I like our group, and we’ve got a great line coach. He’s played the game, and I think that means a lot.  He knows how things should operate. You have a different respect for a coach who’s getting you up for a game and he’s been there.”

So far this preseason, the line has allowed only one sack, a far cry from the near 3.5 sacks allowed over the past three seasons. Granted, they haven’t been playing against elite defenses and the real proof will begin when the regular season starts.

But if the offensive line can hold it together, the Lions will have finally have a strong foundation to build on.

The Beer Thinker Asks: Is the Detroit Lions’ 2009 Season Doomed?

Over the past few days, I’ve read some articles, specifically on the Bleacher Report, pretty much indicating the 2009 Detroit Lions’ season is over.

 

C’mon folks. What was it that you expected to happen this year? 

 

Some will say that I am a bit overly optimistic when it comes to the Lions. That optimism was tested severely last year as week after week, the Lions looked no better than a high school team. The team from Friday Night Lights could have beaten them it got so bad.

 

But that’s last year. While it was painful and embarrassing, it is over and done with. 

 

Have the Lions improved? Hard to say at this point. 

 

A lot of fans, including myself, didn’t agree in taking Matthew Stafford with the first pick. I would have much rather watched the Lions take left tackle Jason Smith out of Baylor and traded the No. 20 pick to move up to get either defensive end Tyson Jackson or defensive tackle B.J. Raji.

 

However, the Lions did what they did and Stafford is projected to be the franchise quarterback of the Detroit Lions. I doubt that he will start any regular season games until after the bye but he will start this year to get used to playing against top-flight defenses. 

 

He hasn’t been pretty in preseason games, but I attribute that to nervousness and a learning curve. He is having a lot thrown at him and it will take time for him to get it down pat.

 

Yes, we have yet another coaching change, the fifth head coach since the 2000 season.

 

Yes, we had some lousy drafts under Matt Millen. 

 

Yes, last year was intolerable and embarrassing. 

 

Yes, we had a quarterback run out of his own end zone last year.

 

Yes, for the most part, the entire team had confused looks on their faces last year.

 

All hard and cold facts and no one can refute them. But must they be rehashed every time this current team makes a mistake?

 

I want someone, anyone, to show me any team in the NFL that plays perfectly. I’m not talking about undefeated seasons because even the Miami Dolphins in 1972 tossed interceptions and gave up sacks. Tom Brady, in that great 2007 season was sacked 21 times and threw eight interceptions. 

There is no such thing as a team that can play perfectly, even if they go undefeated, for an entire season.

 

Look at how awful the Arizona Cardinals were until the last few years. They were often compared to the Detroit Lions in futility. In 1998, the Cardinals went 9-7 and finished second in the NFC West. 

 

Over the next eight seasons, they never won more than seven games. In 2007, they finished 8-8 and last year, they went 9-7 and played the Pittsburgh Steelers very tough in Super Bowl XLIII. 

 

If not for a great catch by Santonio Holmes with 35 seconds left on the clock, the Cardinals could have very well won that game.

 

The point to all this?  Give the Lions some time, allow them to develop. Sure, we have been waiting to go back to the big dance since 1957 but we’ve had the monolithic obstacle of William Clay Ford Sr. standing in the way.

 

But last year’s embarrassment and the fact the Lions were blacked out the last five games last year as well as attendance being way down finally hit an area of William Clay Ford Sr. where it caused him to pay attention: his pocket book.

 

Matt Millen, gone.

 

Rod Marinelli, gone. 

 

Jon Kitna, gone. 

 

Roy Williams, gone.

 

Jim Colletto, gone.

 

In comes Martin Mayhew, who was hired by Millen, and made some solid moves to position the Lions to improve. 

 

In comes head coach Jim Schwartz, a defensive guru with the Tennessee Titans and a longtime associate of Jeff Fisher.

 

In comes defensive coordinator Gunther Cunningham whose first step was to scrap the cover-two defense and install a more attacking style of defense.

 

In comes Scott Linehan, who had great success as an offensive coordinator in Minnesota. 

 

These four people have the future of the Lions in their hands. They will have to face the scrutiny of Lions fans and no light will be as harsh if they fail. 

 

But we can’t call them failures yet, can we?

Being a Detroit Lion Fan: A True Test of Loyalty

Here we sit, waiting, anticipating, for the Detroit Lions 2009 season to begin.

Despite the fact these Lions made history last year by going 0-16, there still seems to be a shred of hope that underlines many articles written by the majority of writers on the Bleacher Report as well as other sites.

The supposed football “experts” on Fox Sports, ESPN and NFL.com, have the Lions improving but not making any headway to playoff aspiration in 2009.

I don’t think the Lions will make the playoffs this year either.  But stranger things have occurred. Lions might catch some teams with injury issues or they just might have all the cylinders clicking on that particular Sunday.  As Chris Berman from ESPN would say “That’s why they play the game.”

It is tough to predict just how well or how poorly the Lions will do.  As a fan, you want your team to do well and Lions fans would just party till all hours of the night if they reach .500. 

Despite the many criticisms that William Clay Ford, Sr. received for promoting Martin Mayhew to GM instead of going after Floyd Reese or Scott Pioli, Mayhew has done a competent job so far.  But how well or how poorly the moves he made has yet to be determined. 

On paper, the moves have been good.  Once the season plays out will determine if we make him the savior of the Lions or refer to him as mini-Millen.

I will say this: Despite last years melt-down, this upcoming season, at least at the start, one of the most personally anticipated ones that has come down the pike in a very long time.

We all know the players they got last year both in free agency and the draft.  But I will state here the three players on the team that will have the most impact.

Matthew Stafford– He isn’t going to be the starter at the beginning of the season.  Schwartz has remained non-committal in making any statements if it’s going to be Culpepper or Stafford.  But unless Culpepper equals his play from 2002 to 2005, Stafford will take over the team four to six games into the season. 

Stafford will make mistakes but I do think he has the leadership capabilities to lead this team and to take control of the offense.  He’s used Brandon Pettigrew as a safety valve, as well as Kevin Smith on screen passes.  Won’t mean much in the win column, but it will set things up for 2010.

Brandon Pettigrew – I have to admit, when the Lions took Pettigrew with the 20th pick, I, along with the majority of Lions fans, went “What the F@#k?”.  However, after my initial reaction, I began to look at this pick as a good one. 

Pettigrew is a monster at 6’5″ and 263 lbs.  He is a good run blocker and has great hands.  He will be one of the main factors why the Lions will improve in the red zone where they have been less than stellar over the last four years.

Louis Delmas – This was a great pick.  Delmas was known, during his days at Western Michigan, as a big hitter and great at run stopping support.  A very instinctive player and always around the ball, Delmas will also bring a bit of “nastiness” to the Detroit defense that has been missing for a while. 

He, along with free agent additions Julian Peterson and Larry Foote, will be the reason why the Lions will rank somewhere 20’s instead of dead last in 2009.

I will be a cautious optimistic this year, more so than any other time in recent years.  The new coaching staff of Schwartz, Cunningham and Linehan has to be one of the most talented the Lions have ever assembled.  At the very least, Lions fans have to be happy that none of the new coaches last name begins with the letter “M”!

While I anticipate the Lions to do better this year, I know that it’s a relative term.  If they win only one game in 2009, they will have improved by 100 percent.  But if they do fall flat, what can we, as Lions fans do?  Pretty much what we have been doing, yelling and screaming at William Clay Ford, Sr. to sell the team.

But I do think we need to allow Schwartz, Cunningham and Linehan some time.  Millen created and perpetuated a disaster for over eight years.  It’s going to take some time to fix what he did.

Here’s to the start of the long, slow climb to respectability.

A Much Needed Vacation from the Detroit Lions

I’m back from a much needed break, both from work and obsessing about these Detroit Lions.

My wife and I took our much loved 1997 Harley Davidson Heritage Springer through nine states in 14 days…and not once did I think or talk about work or the Detroit Lions. 

Funny thing about it is while I expected not to think about work (I am of the motto that I work to live, not live to work), I was surprised that it didn’t bother me that much not thinking about the Lions.

Not that this news is earth-shattering nor will it shake the foundation of the NFL if all of a sudden I’m no longer a fan.  But it did open my eyes to the importance of it.

As we zipped through Moab, UT, Durango, CO, and up Highway 191 heading toward Wyoming over these past two weeks, I found other things of more importance.

I discovered that green technology is starting to make a larger presence in the U.S.  We came across four wind farms and several homes with solar panels.  One home was set up that you knew they were off the grid.  A roof full of solar panels as well as a single wind turbine on a ranch with at least 300 acres filled with cattle and horses.

I also discovered that despite these dire economic times, people are still essentially good.  We had some great conversations with all different types of people.  Not sure if it was because of the bikes but they were often conversation starters. 

And I will tell you one thing:  Little old ladies absolutely love Harleys.  Must bring back some fond memories of younger and freer days.

As with all good things, the vacation had to end. 

Back to the drudgery of work but I think I have a new perspective on the Lions as well as life.  They may have dropped on my personal list of importance but I still plan on writing articles on them. 

But I also think I might be branching out to other types of articles and will be on the lookout for other blogs regarding alternative energy and ones that have a different perspective about life in general.

In fact, I just might start a site of my own…one that focuses on the positive side of life rather than the many negative sites currently dominating the web.  I know they are out there…just need to look harder for them.

OK, enough of this self-indulgence.  Next article will be about football and in particular, the Detroit Lions.

I just wanted to share with anyone who chooses to honor me by reading my stuff my perspective of the world after taking one of the best vacations I ever took.

Salud!

Detroit Lions Need to Learn How to Win at Home

Will Detroit Lions fans be patient?

Yes, I know. Detroit Lions fans have been waiting for 52 years to have something to really be proud of.

Some fans can point to the 1990s where the Lions made six of their last 10 playoff appearances, winning only once.

Is the only thing we can hang our hat on is the 1991 38-6 dismantling of the Dallas Cowboys? Don’t get me wrong—I always like a beat down on the Cowboys in any decade.

The new coaching staff is fighting a lot of negative history. True, there are a lot of new players on the Lions. But with the media and blog sites, there is always someone there to remind them…say isn’t that a song?

But I digress. The current roster is going to have to overcome some serious hurdles. First and foremost, they have to learn to protect their home turf.

Since 2000, the Lions have a home record of 27-46. Teams have a very high chance to win when coming into Ford Field. How embarrassing is it, when I see the few rare nationally televised games, to see more opponent team colors in the stands than Lion colors?

Granted, the Lions have done very, very, very little to ignite team passion…I’m sure it’s equally embarrassing for the few Lions die-hard fans to feel like they are at an away game.

So first things first Lions. Win your home games. This will regenerate fan interest and make it tough for fans of opposing teams to come in and buy up the tickets. It will also help you get the fans on your side for once.

Give them a chance to be your 12th man, to be able to yell and scream so loud, the opposing offense either gets false-start penalties or has to waste timeouts.

As for the road games, that’s an even bigger hurdle to jump. With an abysmal 13-59 road record since 2000, including the memorable 0-24 streak from 2001 to 2003, the Lions need to shake the feeling they can’t win in opposing stadiums.

Ever watch Lions players when they take the field at away games? Their collective body language shows they’ve already lost the game before even playing it.

Take care of business at home Lions. Do something to get hometown fans back in the seats. Winning at home will allow the team to build confidence to win on the road.

Give the fans what they’ve been waiting for: A REASON TO CHEER!

Detroit Lions Progress: One Step at a Time

I’ve been reading a lot of articles about these Detroit Lions. 

My conclusions:  There are a ton of NFL experts out there.

There have been some predictions the Lions will be competing for the NFC North title in 2009.  Accomplishing that would be one heck of a feat for a team that went 0-16 in 2008.

The other side of the coin sees the Lions as nothing more than an extension of the Millen years and see them winning only two games in 2009.  While that does seem more realistic to the casual observer, my honest opinion is the end result will be in the six to eight win range. 

The upgrade to the coaching staff and the new players coming in are a huge improvement over last years team.

New head coach Jim Schwartz isn’t handing any starting jobs to anyone.  His mantra this year has been the player that is the best at his position and shows that he is ready to be the starter will earn the starting job. 

This includes the quarterback spot which many “experts” have the Lions making a knee-jerk reaction in stating Stafford should be the starter.

About the only two spots on the offensive side of the ball that is set is the WR spot with future all-world receiver Calvin Johnson and emerging leader, running back Kevin Smith.

Will the Lions ever get there?  Who knows?  But one thing that I do know is that all Lions fans have been waiting for decades for the Lions to move from a bad to mediocre team to a good team.  Becoming an elite team will take a lot of hard work and forward thinking.

But, one step at time folks.  First order of business is to just get better…win the games you are supposed to win.  Heck, I’d be real happy with the Lions winning all of their home games.

Once they get better, and win some games, the question that should be in the fore front of every Lion player, coach and front office person is “what can I do to make the team better?”

Players need to push themselves and each other.  Coaches need to design schemes to exploit players strengths.  Front office needs to be constantly on the look-out for players that can help the team.

Recent team history cannot be ignored.  Focus needs to be away from the 0-16 season of last year and all of the ineptness of the Millen era.  The current regime in place can’t change the past but can point to it and use it as motivation.

The goal of the Lions should not be merely to reach the playoffs.  Too often, the Lions achieved that in the 1990s only to be one and done 90% of the time.  In order to win in the playoffs, teams have to learn how to win on the road.

The Lions road record in the regular season has been atrocious.  Let’s not forget the even more depressing 24 game road loss streak.  So to improve chances of winning in the playoffs, the Lions must, must improve their ability to win on the road.

In 2009, the Lions should focus on winning their home games.  This is where the fans can help our team.  The Seahawks led the NFL last year with opposing teams getting flagged for false starts. 

If the Lions can give the fans something to cheer about, we can help them in the same way.  Opposing teams should be worried about coming in to the Lions den.

I hope the 2009 season is one that all can see forward progress.  The moves so far have indicated they are pointed in the right direction.  But until the wins outnumber the losses, fans aren’t gonna be happy anytime soon.

Should Matt Stafford Be the Detroit Lions’ Starting Quarterback?

Pete Prisco of CBS Sports.com says that Detroit should end the debate and start Matt Stafford.

He makes some strong arguments, using Peyton Manning and Matt Ryan as examples.  But for every Peyton Manning, a Joey Harrington is right there.

The gist of the article is that since the Lions aren’t going to make the playoffs this year, why delay the inevitable? Allow Stafford to gain valuable playing time as a starter and adjust to the game at the NFL level. 

I have to disagree with Mr. Prisco. I don’t know what crystal ball that he has in thinking the Lions don’t have a chance of getting to the playoffs. I will grant you that it will be very improbable, but it’s not impossible.

With that in mind, shouldn’t you have the players in place that you feel will give you the best chance?

Yeah, okay, so Daunte Culpepper doesn’t scare anyone right now. As Mr. Prisco points out, Culpepper is 32, with his best football behind him. He continues on by writing that the last time he was any good was in 2004 and had Randy Moss to throw to.

Excuse me there Pete, ever hear of Calvin Johnson?

Stafford does have a cannon of an arm and appears to have a good command of the huddle. In minicamps, he was jelling nicely with fellow first-round pick Brandon Pettigrew and, of course, Calvin Johnson. 

I’m not saying Stafford shouldn’t start this year. If the Lions are faltering under Culpepper, there would be little reason not to bring Stafford in. But keep him on the sidelines for at least the first four games. 

Why? Practice is one thing, since defensive players would be kicked off the team if they nailed any of the quarterbacks. 

Preseason games are just opportunities for hopefuls to gain a roster spot so the true speed of an NFL game isn’t evident. Starters play maybe a quarter and then second- and third-string players come in. Stafford would probably do well since he would be playing a talent level he faced in college.

However, once the season starts, let him watch Culpepper and witness first hand just how fast the game is. Culpepper may have his best football behind him, but he can teach Stafford what to expect and help ease Stafford into the games. 

Let him start the second half of a few home games and then escalate to starting the second half of some road games, perhaps two or three at a time. Come December, give him the reigns if Culpepper is failing.

But you also have to consider this: What if Culpepper has a season like 2004? Should the Lions interfere at that point? 

Joe Montana, who many consider to be the best quarterback of all time, played behind Steve DeBerg for his first year. Steve Young sat on the bench for three years behind Montana. Tom Brady was behind Drew Bledsoe and, if not for an injury to Bledsoe, would have stayed there for a lot longer than a year. 

Schwartz is not giving anyone the starting job in any of the positions. He has stated that players will start if they are the best at their position and if they are ready. 

If Stafford shines during preseason, the choice is made.

Detroit Lions Head Coach Jim Schwartz: I’m Starting to Like This Guy!

Just caught this article from WDFN.

And I gotta say, I am starting to like this guy.

Outside of what is going to be a monumental job in turning the Detroit Lions around, Schwartz also feels an obligation and a responsibility to the City of Detroit.

When was the last time a Detroit Lion head coach said that?

While there have been some detractors, most recently Dan Reeves, about players and coaching living in Michigan, Schwartz was told that he would love it there.  He recounts someone telling him, “Your perception of being an outsider is a lot different than what it’s actually like.”

I have to agree.  While the job environment forced a move out of Michigan for my wife and I in 1993, we try to get back as often as we can. 

The people are great, the food you can find to eat is endless and of course, Michigan, Detroit in particular, has some of the best, most passionate and knowledgeable sports fans I’ve ever been associated with.

While many of us can’t even fathom that William Clay Ford, Sr. is considered one of the best owners in the NFL, he is attempting to give Schwartz everything he needs to succeed.  If Schwartz fails, it won’t be due to a lack of support from Ford.

What really got me liking Schwartz was this statement:

“We have everything we need here to be successful and it’s up to us to get that done,” said Schwartz. “I feel a tremendous amount of responsibility, not only to the Ford family, but to the city of Detroit. This isn’t an opportunity to me, this is a responsibility. We have to get this thing turned around for this city.”

There seems to be a sense of commitment from Schwartz that I didn’t get from Marinelli or Mariucci and definitely not from Matt Millen.

Yeah, I know, he hasn’t won a game yet…hasn’t faced any critical decisions with 80,000 fans screaming at the top of their lungs with 15 seconds on the clock and his team is down by four and need a touchdown to win (throw it to CJ!).

But the mere fact that he knows the weight he carries, the knowledge of what it means to the city if the Lions start to win, speaks volumes for his awareness.

I think this will serve him well as head coach of the Detroit Lions.

Matt Millen Has No Right to Play Victim

I thought I was done writing about Matt Millen. 

I was all for forgetting about what he did to the Detroit Lions from 2000 to 2009.

I was ready to forget his 31-97 record.

I was ready to forget the bad draft picks which included Charles Rogers, Mike Williams and Joey Harrington.

I was ready to forget the hirings of Mornhinwheg, Marriucci, and Marinelli.

What drove me to write about Millen again was the article in The Detroit Free Press:  “Millen Plays Victim: I Was To Blame For the Auto Industry and Housing Market”

With his usual flippant and dismissive style, Millen still takes no responsibility to what he did during his eight years as President/General Manager of the Detroit Lions.

Here is a quote from an interview with Don Banks of si.com: 

“I don’t go backward. I just don’t think like that. There’s nothing I can do about (Detroit). All I can do is from here on out.

“I understand. In Detroit, they need a bad guy. I was a bad guy. I was to blame for the fall of the auto industry and the housing market. Somehow, I had something to do with Kwame Kilpatrick, although I’m not sure what.

“But that’s what happens when you lose in this game. You give everyone a cheap and easy story to jump on.”

The only thing that is even remotely correct is that he can’t do anything about Detroit.  Let me speak for all fans of the Detroit Lions:  WE ARE GLAD YOU WON’T HAVE THE OPPORTUNITY TO SCREW THEM UP EVEN WORSE!

The audacity of Millen is appalling.  For him to take no accountability for what he did is downright insulting to the City of Detroit.  He makes his parting from the Lions as he was the fall guy for the Lions failures.  Please tell me who held the gun to your freaking head using four out of 15 top ten draft picks to take wide receivers?

As for his attempt to be funny in taking the blame for the auto industry, housing market and Kwame Kilpatrick, it doesn’t work as being sarcastic.  It does nothing other than rub salt into the wounds of the great people in the City of Detroit.

Millen did make a lame attempt at taking responsibility on January 3, 2009 on “Football Night in America.”  He admitted that he would had fired himself but not until after the 2008 season.

He also has attempted to shift the blame to others to the coaches HE hired and the players HE drafted.  Matt, you were the guy in charge.  You were responsible for the direction of the team.  It was YOUR actions that drove the Detroit Lions to become the doormat of the NFL.

Millen wants to move on and revive his TV career.  Lions fans want to move on as well but for some damn reason, he keeps opening his yap in attempts to explain himself. 

Matt, lets make this easy for you.  Just admit that you were in way over your head.  Admit that you did not have the capacity to evaluate player or coaching talent.  Admit that accepting the five year contract extension at the start of the 2005 season bordered on fraud.

If you don’t wish to own up to your responsibilities, when asked about the Lions, the only words that should come out of your mouth is “No comment.”

Anything else just dregs up old anger…enough is enough.

Is 2009 the Season of Hope for the Detroit Lions?

The draft is over and free agency has slowed to a crawl.  The result is the Lions have turned over 40 percent of their players.

In my estimation, at least on paper, the Lions have improved.  So much so, the have they capability to win eight games in 2009.  More than likely, it will be in the five to seven win range.  I haven’t really looked at the schedule and I am sure there will be those that will ask just which games the Lions will win.

If I knew that, don’t you think I’d be on the first plane to Vegas and betting my life savings?

What will be key?  How the players will buy into Jim Schwartz’s coaching strategies, something that never occurred under Rod Marinelli.

Also, Schwartz, Cunningham and Linehan all have a “go get em” philosophy when it comes to defense and offense.  I am thankful the Cover-2 defense is a thing of the past since all it was a prevent style of defense…and we all know that type a defense prevents you from winning.

Brandon Pettigrew will be the key to this year’s offense.  Yes, Calvin Johnson will be the star and Kevin Smith will be the workhorse, but as the year progresses, you’ll hear Pettigrew’s name on key blocks, critical third down pass receptions and touchdowns when the Lions are in the red zone.  At 6-5 with both great blocking ability and great hands, he will be like money in the bank.

Defense surprise of they year?  The focus of the defense will be the linebackers.  Sims, Peterson and Foote will be formidable.  However, the one player that will make the biggest impact is going to be safety Louis Delmas.  Granted, at 5-11 and 203 pounds he may be undersized but he has great closing speed, excellent coverage skills and a big hitter.

Lions have a great opportunity this season to begin rising from the ashes and become a contender in three to five years.

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