Game 4 Analysis

There is only 1 more day until the curse of Bobby Lane ends http://www.curseofbobbylayne.com/ and last week Ford Sr ended the curse of Matt Millen by firing him (or he was asked to step down, not sure how it actually went down). But neither thing was enough to get the Lions to play even half way decently following their bye week. Despite all that has happened, had the Lions won today they'd only be 1 game out of first place in the mighty NFC North. But instead, Orton had a career day (that sure does happen a lot this year during Lions games) and the Lions managed to score only 1 TD before losing 34-7.

What was even worse then the play on the field was the body language of the players during the game. There was a very brief upsurge in energy when the offense went to 4 wide and got play calls that Kitna, Roy and others actually believe in... only to drain away within a few plays. Bodden looked like he was being forced to play in an ugly dress and Redding continually tried to get the Bears fans to get loud when the Lions defense was on the field. (Apparently he didn't recognise all the Bears jerseys in the seats).

The wonderous OC Colletto has totally lost the skilled players on offense. The equally wonderous DC Barry is losing the D players in chunks, and the STC Kwam looks as lost as ever (to be fair, I truly think that he was born that way, but I can not be certain). The best plays on the field involved Avril, or Kevin Smith, or Felton. Does that mean the head coach (and lead idiot in this group of idiots) will play the rest of the rookies next week? No, probably not.

The Lions have lost 11 of their last 12 games (stretching back to last year) and they are still playing 6 of their front seven from last year on defense. They recognized a need, drafted for it, and then proceeded to not play them except grudgingly. Well, that has to stop! If you are not capable of recognizing that fact then do a Bobby Ross and go home.

So here are my suggestions for next week. First, demote Colletto. He is a barely adequate (at the extreme most) offensive line coach. Promote Kippy to OC. Tell Jefferson he needs to have extra study sesssions with the WRs all week (until they learn the plays). Open up the offense so that the players start to believe again. Promote Stanton to #2 QB, give him the last half of the blow out games (all of which might be blow outs depending on what actually changes). Do not inactivate Cohen, Fluellen or Dizon next week. Play them. In fact, Start Them! If they mess up too much, then sit them for stretches at a time. But get them reps in the game and see if they truly are worse then the starters (note: it would be VERY hard to be worse then the starters). Inactivate Moore, Cody, and McDonald or Furrey (you need Middelton for returns, but you only need one slot WR, especially if you can't ever do anything on offense).

Then, blitz more. You don't like to Blitz? Tough! You're a lame duck coach with no chance of ever getting a gig like this again for the rest of your life. Blitz. Attack. Do what you are not doing because what you are doing sucks.

If you're just going to keep pounding your rock you are just going to keep sucking on Sundays (and I'm not talking ice cream here). Change it up. Now. Or forever wish you had done something else.