You've gotta see this article...

...from the Detroit Free Press. Enjoy!


COMMENTARY MITCH ALBOM

Loss to Panthers last straw for Lions
Getting beat by Peete low point for franchise
Mitch Albom, Detroit Free Press

The Detroit Lions do not know what they're doing. They are totally lost. I want to say that up top, in the first two sentences, because once I add the words "and Rodney Peete beat them," I'll start laughing, then crying, and I won't be able to write a cohesive thought until the 14th paragraph.

Rodney Peete beat them? Oh, please. Whip us. Chain us. Drop us in mozzarella cheese and cover us in pepperonis. But don't torture us this way: Rodney Peete beat the Lions? Lord, hath thou no mercy? Is this funny to you?

By the way, for those who thought Rodney retired, we say: What difference would that make?

Lots of guys could come out of retirement and beat the Lions.

Having said that, let me say this: I thought Rodney Peete retired! I saw him at the Super Bowl last year and judging by the expanded waistline, I figured, "Here's a man who has grown happy with home cooking."

But there he was Sunday, at age 36, dropping passes over Lions like a kid shooting marbles. Peete not only beat his old team, he embarrassed them. He exploited them. He threw for 310 yards and never got sacked.

"I thought I was coming down here to hold the clipboard, help the young guys, you know?" Peete said, laughing by his locker, after the 31-7 blowout. "But it's like `The Godfather.' Every time I try to get out, they pull me back in!"

"How easy was it to beat this Lions team?" I asked.

He rolled his eyes in sympathy.

"Pretty easy," he said.

Enough. It is time to take action. Don't tell me "it's only the second game." It's not the second game. It's the 18th game of the (Matt)Millen/(Marty)Mornhinweg era. The offense is inept. The defense -- which was supposed to carry this team -- is averaging 40 points surrendered each week.

I thought Bill Ford Jr. had a toughie with that Firestone thing. I wouldn't want to be him today. He's invested millions into a Lions braintrust that has made the learning curve look like a waterfall. Aren't you supposed to get smarter as you go along?

Instead we get this: Carolina 31, Detroit 7. Critics made a big deal when Baltimore lost to Carolina last week -- by three! The Lions got blown out. The Panthers lost 15 straight last year. They actually drafted higher than Detroit.

And this week, the Lions had James Stewart.

"Everything we could do wrong, we did wrong," Matt Millen admitted. "We have to re-examine everything. Everything. Including me."

And he's understating. Two weeks into the season, Detroit is as messed up as a 15-year-old's sock drawer.

If it's not a quarterback shuffle, it's dropped passes. If it's not dropped passes, it's stupid penalties, or defensive backs getting beat -- which all but gave the Panthers a big touchdown at the end of the first half Sunday.

And the Panthers' headsets had gone out! They scored on the Lions with hand signals!

Did I mention Rodney Peete beat them?

Meanwhile, the men who inherited Rodney's position had a miserable, muddy afternoon. Mike McMahon and rookie Joey Harrington were shuffled back and forth in a manner befitting a coach who embodies the word "discombobulated."

They were sacked, harassed and intercepted. Thanks to Mornhinweg's shuffle play, he now doesn't have one or two quarterbacks, he has none.

Something has to give. Someone has to go. It's not that the Lions are losing. It's that they don't seem to know how to do anything else. They got pummeled by a team that has a woeful tradition, and were outplayed by a quarterback we thought was home with his kids.

There was one moment Sunday that summed up the whole pathetic mess. On fourth down, awaiting a punt, the Lions were flagged for a penalty. The ref charged them with "making an unnatural move."

In Detroit, it's called "winning."

 

Huh uh, thats about right - they suck and they are our bitches. I'll buy dat.

 

He sounds like we did when Peete was named the starter. Guess Fox knows a lot about football. No shit. It'll be a long time before I doubt the man again, that's for sure.

Now this is funny. Funny because they were covered in Peppers anyway

 

I'm telling ya, this is the lowest point for the franchise in over 20 years.....and it just keeps getting worse, their best defensive player is out for weeks after having surgery on his thumb.

is it a good strategy to throw a hail mary every play?

 

I just read where Blaise is out for the season, too.

 

Not to mention that the starting LT is out for the season. The Lions need more players and therefore need to lose to get the impact guys.

Oops sorry meatpile, I posted just after you. Yea, Blaise is gone for the year.

 

Blaise was a backup guard...he was forced to play tackle due to injuries, he hadn't played tackle since college....he played well enough that they didn't take him out when McDougal came back. I guess that sums up the talent level on the OL.

 

I didn't really like their pickups this year, but I really sometimes don't see what makes the Lions that much worse than, say, Dallas or Minnesota. There really is some talent - not much - but there was a lot more than we had last year when neither of us were that good.