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The sun had barely began to set on the Pittsburgh skyline as another year of Lions football came to a merciful end in front of my 52” RCA super model that I bought just for the occasion. I reflected on the football year 2005 that wasn’t, my new promises for next season, and wondered how long it would take to convince myself again that next year would be better.
Why not? They had just come within two touchdowns of beating the stockings off of the perennial playoff-bound Pittsburgh Steelers and Joey Harrington seemed to have finally found his groove. He controlled the airways as he put up a 102 passer rating and found Marcus Pollard, Cory Schlessinger, and Roy Williams in the end zone, in what could only be described as the most potent passing attack Lions fans have seen in two years.
Maybe it was the beard. Maybe it was the relative escape from the intense pressure of playing in Ford Field. Or maybe, just maybe, Joey was finally starting to come along. There is little doubt that Lions had little to play for but pride on Sunday, while the Steelers were in a must win situation and had everything to play for. Yet they barely eeked out a 35-21 victory.
The Lions, it seemed, might be turning the corner.
2006 brings new challenges to Detroit Lions general manager Matt Millen, among these being picking the right group of men to make his controversial strategy of building around the wide receiver position work. If his new 5 year contract extension is any indication, there’s at least one man in Detroit who thinks he can make it happen. We do know that Steve Marriucci won’t be the man at the wheel of Millen’s machine. Marricucci--who ironically was hired to save Matt Millen’s job--was fired to save Matt Millen’s job. If you don’t understand the situation you can take comfort in the fact that nobody else seems to either, but what I do know is if there’s one thing I envy, and one thing I covet, and one thing I dream of in the whole wide world, it’s Matt Millen’s job.
The mystery of the disappearing running game will have to be solved. Mooch’s inability to run the football and/or stubbornness to avoid it likely led to his somewhat surprising early exit in 2005. Increasing signs and evocations hinted of Millen’s displeasure as it became obvious that he didn’t draft three first round wide receivers so the coach could run the ball fifteen times a game.
The Lions “new and improved” offensive line was neither new nor improved. Kelly Butler never seemed to get on track, and both Jeff Backus and Dominic Riola inexplicably regressed. Marcus Pollard and Damien Woody--brought in from winning teams--claimed the importance of their leadership, before resigning themselves to the fact that they were now members of the Detroit Lions football organization, when their frustrations became vocal.
Dre Bly’s comments that he was no longer going to play the ambassador and recruit players was particularly troublesome given the fact that Shawn Rogers was too busy making plays to do it. Early indications are that Scotty Vines is a likely candidate to inherit the job, and Scotty Vines isn’t exactly Dre Bly. He’s not Barry Sanders or Herman Moore, either, but those guys don’t talk to us anymore anyway.
But all was not lost. There was a bright spot, and that was Shawn Rogers. Rogers proved once again that he must be accounted for on every play, that he is the one guy who will show up no matter what team is on the other side of the line, no matter what player. Shawn Rogers simply dominates offensive lines. If we had twenty-two Shawn Rogers, we’d have--well, we’d have the fattest team in the league, but at least there’d be no question as to their effort, and I could live with that.
So as the year rolled from 2005 to 2006, I toasted the great Gary Moeller--the last winning football coach the Detroit Lions have ever known--and wondered “what if?” Then I shrugged off the idea of a curse of Gary Moeller as pure folly before pronouncing a new list of football resolutions to bring in the new year.
1. I, of sound body and blown mind, promise to stop predicting that the Lions will have a .500 record. Time and time again this has made me look like a fool with my Texas friends, and now they are laughing that Reggie Bush will be the next Barry Sanders.
2. I will quit expecting the Lions offense to be somewhat interesting, regardless of the names. The only thing unpredictable about this team are their all too-infrequent scores that have an uncanny knack for happening at the most inopportune times--like when I’m mowing the lawn.
3. I will quit making up colorful nicknames for Joey Harrington, like The Piano Man, Four Yards and A Cloud of Out-of Bounds, Joyless Joe, and most recently, Grizzly Gaggums; and appreciate him for what he is: the Lions’ most recent high-profile bust.
4. I will quit annoying my friends by predicting run plays on obvious running downs. It’s not like I’m going out on a limb or anything, and I’m always wrong anyway.
5. I will quit expecting the Lions to build a bruising defense through the draft. I know other teams build winning teams through defense--the Patriots, the Panthers, the Bears--but those defenses are boring. Three and outs all the time, and who wants to see Kyle Orton, Jake Delhomme, and Deion Branch all day? Not I. The Lions defense brings offense back into the game.
“To Gary Moeller!” I toasted. “And the winning tradition of Lions football! That we will go back to the good old days and restore the roar! We will restore the name Barry Sanders to every bust and monument and every wall of Detroit!”
Laughter and applause. When I was satisfied that things were as perfect as they could be in my Lions realm, with new promise shown against the Pittsburgh Steelers to end the season accompanied with new accolades, I held up my glass for one more toast.
“To Matt Millen! Long live the king!”
There was silence as I faded into unconsciousness.
Why not? They had just come within two touchdowns of beating the stockings off of the perennial playoff-bound Pittsburgh Steelers and Joey Harrington seemed to have finally found his groove. He controlled the airways as he put up a 102 passer rating and found Marcus Pollard, Cory Schlessinger, and Roy Williams in the end zone, in what could only be described as the most potent passing attack Lions fans have seen in two years.
Maybe it was the beard. Maybe it was the relative escape from the intense pressure of playing in Ford Field. Or maybe, just maybe, Joey was finally starting to come along. There is little doubt that Lions had little to play for but pride on Sunday, while the Steelers were in a must win situation and had everything to play for. Yet they barely eeked out a 35-21 victory.
The Lions, it seemed, might be turning the corner.
2006 brings new challenges to Detroit Lions general manager Matt Millen, among these being picking the right group of men to make his controversial strategy of building around the wide receiver position work. If his new 5 year contract extension is any indication, there’s at least one man in Detroit who thinks he can make it happen. We do know that Steve Marriucci won’t be the man at the wheel of Millen’s machine. Marricucci--who ironically was hired to save Matt Millen’s job--was fired to save Matt Millen’s job. If you don’t understand the situation you can take comfort in the fact that nobody else seems to either, but what I do know is if there’s one thing I envy, and one thing I covet, and one thing I dream of in the whole wide world, it’s Matt Millen’s job.
The mystery of the disappearing running game will have to be solved. Mooch’s inability to run the football and/or stubbornness to avoid it likely led to his somewhat surprising early exit in 2005. Increasing signs and evocations hinted of Millen’s displeasure as it became obvious that he didn’t draft three first round wide receivers so the coach could run the ball fifteen times a game.
The Lions “new and improved” offensive line was neither new nor improved. Kelly Butler never seemed to get on track, and both Jeff Backus and Dominic Riola inexplicably regressed. Marcus Pollard and Damien Woody--brought in from winning teams--claimed the importance of their leadership, before resigning themselves to the fact that they were now members of the Detroit Lions football organization, when their frustrations became vocal.
Dre Bly’s comments that he was no longer going to play the ambassador and recruit players was particularly troublesome given the fact that Shawn Rogers was too busy making plays to do it. Early indications are that Scotty Vines is a likely candidate to inherit the job, and Scotty Vines isn’t exactly Dre Bly. He’s not Barry Sanders or Herman Moore, either, but those guys don’t talk to us anymore anyway.
But all was not lost. There was a bright spot, and that was Shawn Rogers. Rogers proved once again that he must be accounted for on every play, that he is the one guy who will show up no matter what team is on the other side of the line, no matter what player. Shawn Rogers simply dominates offensive lines. If we had twenty-two Shawn Rogers, we’d have--well, we’d have the fattest team in the league, but at least there’d be no question as to their effort, and I could live with that.
So as the year rolled from 2005 to 2006, I toasted the great Gary Moeller--the last winning football coach the Detroit Lions have ever known--and wondered “what if?” Then I shrugged off the idea of a curse of Gary Moeller as pure folly before pronouncing a new list of football resolutions to bring in the new year.
1. I, of sound body and blown mind, promise to stop predicting that the Lions will have a .500 record. Time and time again this has made me look like a fool with my Texas friends, and now they are laughing that Reggie Bush will be the next Barry Sanders.
2. I will quit expecting the Lions offense to be somewhat interesting, regardless of the names. The only thing unpredictable about this team are their all too-infrequent scores that have an uncanny knack for happening at the most inopportune times--like when I’m mowing the lawn.
3. I will quit making up colorful nicknames for Joey Harrington, like The Piano Man, Four Yards and A Cloud of Out-of Bounds, Joyless Joe, and most recently, Grizzly Gaggums; and appreciate him for what he is: the Lions’ most recent high-profile bust.
4. I will quit annoying my friends by predicting run plays on obvious running downs. It’s not like I’m going out on a limb or anything, and I’m always wrong anyway.
5. I will quit expecting the Lions to build a bruising defense through the draft. I know other teams build winning teams through defense--the Patriots, the Panthers, the Bears--but those defenses are boring. Three and outs all the time, and who wants to see Kyle Orton, Jake Delhomme, and Deion Branch all day? Not I. The Lions defense brings offense back into the game.
“To Gary Moeller!” I toasted. “And the winning tradition of Lions football! That we will go back to the good old days and restore the roar! We will restore the name Barry Sanders to every bust and monument and every wall of Detroit!”
Laughter and applause. When I was satisfied that things were as perfect as they could be in my Lions realm, with new promise shown against the Pittsburgh Steelers to end the season accompanied with new accolades, I held up my glass for one more toast.
“To Matt Millen! Long live the king!”
There was silence as I faded into unconsciousness.