The Lions beat the Falcons in impressive fashion. My response? 2-6
In a game few saw coming, the Lions beat the Falcons, handily. The Falcons looked more like the team who's season is already over. Michael Vick handled the ball the same way Marcus Vick handles revolvers in a McDonald's parking lot, that being not very well. Even still, the Lions looked like the better team. They looked good. Real good.
All I can say is color me unimpressed.
Why? You know who else looked good yesterday? The Miami Dolphins, lead by of all people, Joey Harrington. The Oakland Raiders, who we can all agree are the worst team in the NFL, are currently on a 2 game winning streak. Buffalo is out and out awful, and the Lions manhandled them 3 weeks ago. But the Bills throttled the Packers yesterday, who in turn manhandled the Lions earlier this season.
All these teams have something in common. Like the Lions, they ain't going anywhere other than direct to a top 10 draft pick.
That's why I'm not all that impressed.
It's the NFL. We see games like yesterday's on every week of every season. A good team loses to the less talented team all the time in the NFL. The difference is that the good teams will bounce back after a bad game. I'll bet the Falcons will win next Sunday. On the other hand, the Lions of the world just fall back into their losing ways the next week, unable to build upon those very occasional good victories. You want to put your beer money on the Lions to beat the 49ers? Without checking the line, I'll guarantee you that the Lions will be favored. Not by much, but they'll be giving 1-3 points. I like my beer too much to ever trust the Lions to win a game they are supposed to.
Look at the current NFL standings. The Lions' 2-6 record ties them with, get this, 5 other teams for the 2nd worst record in football. It most likely will be 6 teams after the Raiders play Seattle tonight. The ONLY team with a worse record is Arizona, and they are only 1 game behind at 1-7. So pardon me for not getting all giddy over a Lions victory, no matter how good they looked themselves, or how decent a team they beat in the Falcons. The only numbers that count are W-L.
2-6 is NOTHING to be enthused about.
Did we see some encouraging things? Sure. Roy Williams may just be the best wide out in football. Mike Furrey actually does something that a Lions #2 receiver hasn't done since Brett Perriman was picking up Herman Moore's scraps. That is, Furry CATCHES balls thrown to him, rather than bat it around like a dynamite filled volleyball. Kevin Jones is a solid, top tier NFL back. Stopgap or not, Jon Kitna is what he is, a serviceable upgrade over Joey Blue Skies. The O-line had a nice game. The defense played their best since the Seattle loss, despite having 3 of their top defensive linemen inactive.
None of it will mean a damn thing unless the Lions can string a few victories together.
You look at the upcoming games against San Francisco, Arizona, and Miami, and you might think that will give the Lions 2, maybe 3, victories. But...Those 3 teams see the Lions on their schedule and are thinking the same thing. "We play the Lions? Hot damn! That's a game we should win!"
Odds are, a couple of of those teams will beat the Lions. That's why I'm NOT getting my hopes up.
Still, a victory like yesterday's might sell you on the new head coach. In my mind, the jury is still out on Sgt. Marinelli. I'm not yet sure if he's the solution to what ails the Lions. Hell, Marty Mornhinweg managed to win a few games, so 2 wins by the Sarge is not nearly enough to convince me that he'll lead them to respectability, let alone the promised land called the playoffs. It's much too early in his tenure to judge anything, other than that the Sarge made a damn good hire in Mike Martz.
Win 2 or 3 games in a row, have a winning record in the back half of the season, and maybe, just maybe, I'll buy into Sgt. Marinelli's program. I'll judge him on the W-L record. I'm sure the Sarge would agree with that sentiment.
But I'll be judge, jury, and executioner on Matt Millen. The more wins the Lions do somehow get, the more entrenched that incompetent, porn 'stached boob running the Lions becomes. Remember, wins are bad, folks! Victories are not, I repeat, NOT, good at all in that regard.
Talk about a conundrum. As the Lions win, the more it proves that Marinelli just may be a good coach, but it means that the incompetent boob remains in charge. On the other hand, the more the Lions lose, the worse Millen looks. But does Marinelli deserve blame for being saddled with a boob of a GM, even if that boob hired him? It's a head scratcher, to say the very least.
Anyway, I'm getting ahead of myself. The question everyone is asking is what did the win over Atlanta mean? When all is said and done, the win doesn't mean anything, because we've seen it all before. The Lions have had several wins like Sunday's over the years, and did it lead anywhere? Only to more losses, crapped out draft picks, fired coaches, the thing that wouldn't leave, Matt Millen, and fans deluding themselves that the win is a sign of better times to come. Which, of course, never do.
It's all about the body of work, not 1 game. I'm not going to let 1 nice win convince me otherwise.
I saw something encouraging. Roy Williams continues to get points for my fantasy team!
ReplyDeleteAs for the Lions, I like to watch their offense, but my football affiliation is freelance. I root for players.
Big Al: The sober voice of reason.
ReplyDeleteI have to admit to a twinge of excitement over the win (and the hope of potential wins to come in the next week or two), but a look at the standings is enough to slap me back into reality.
And the win temporarily covers up Matt Millen's continuing ineptness. Another wide receiver cut this week? Another one of his draft picks demoted to the bench? One of his cuts (Shaun Bodiford) snatched up by a division foe? Just when you think he couldn't top himself...
This past weekend was Pete Rozelle's dream of parity at its worst. No team - outside of perhaps the Colts - seemed interested in staking a claim as a top team. The NFC's top contenders looked especially incompetent.
And hell yes, Mike Furrey is the $#!+. I love that guy.