RKMBs Forums .::Robegories::. Sports and Wrestling The 2005 NFL Thread

I've had some time to think about the Lions self destruction yesterday, and there are a lot of problems. The most obvious problem is that Joey Harrington is not getting through to this team. Roy Williams didn't stick with the called play in the endzone. Why? Why did he turn away instead of fight for the position so that he could at least swat the ball incomplete? The simple answer is he didn't want to. He didn't want to play for Harrington.

Now, had that aweful nonexistant penalty not been called on Rogers on that 41 yard pass when the score was 7-6 in the 1st, the whole game might have been different. But Harrington couldn't get the team to play for him. The offensive line won't block for him. The defense won't get the ball back for him. And, most importantly, his recievers won't run the plays for him, to be where he is supposed to throw ball.

I heard Woody talk about how Bledsoe was a quiet leader with the Pats. I remember how they wouldn't play for him. I remember how it took him getting injured, and Brady stepping in, to turn that team around. Brady is a champion. He is the best quarterback in the NFL. And he is the top leader in the NFL. Maybe when Woody leaves the Lions, and he's asked what went wrong here, he'll say the truth about Harrington.

But that's only one part of the problem. Marriuchi (I have no idea how to spell his name) doesn't have the fire this team needs from its head coach. He's too laid back. He's had three years, and he's not getting through to them. I'm starting to think the Lions need a new coach, and maybe a new staff entirely. That, and a quarterback the team will play for. A leader. Because the Lions don't have any leaders on this team. Not on offense, not on defense, and not on the sidelines.