Point-CounterPoint (From the Detroit Monitor 11/06/2008)

    George Eichorn: Who would have thought that the Lions would find themselves in this woeful situation — starting the season 0-8 — after completing an undefeated exhibition season at 4-0. Boy, there was so much optimism heading into the opener last September and now look at the failure of coach Rod Marinelli and the team.

    Scott Morganroth: The 4-0 preseason record meant absolutely nothing. Marinelli is 10-30 has won all of his games with Mike Martz as his offensive coordinator. Someone had to be the fall guy for a team that won seven games in 2007, the most since the 9-7, 2000 season that ended Gary Moeller’s short tenure as coach. Let’s put an SOS out for Moeller. U-M and the Lions need him! Welcome to the failed military club, Marinelli. Former Minnesota Vikings coach Les Steckel finished his only season in 1984 with a 3-13 record. If Marinelli needs a career, he should get a job as a travel agent so he can take same day trips to Oakland, California. His flight crew will consist of all the Tampa Bay Bucs castoffs that moved 20 hours north on I-75.

    Eichorn: Yes, but let’s look at the bright side. With Cincinnati’s victory last Sunday over the Jacksonville Jaguars, only the Lions are now winless. This means Detroit is in the driver’s seat for futility and that translates in the National Football League to the owner of the number one draft choice in April’s college player draft.

    Morganroth: Speaking of driving, the road to the top pick of the NFL Draft will either be on the I-75/I-375 Detroit/Windsor border or the I-75 Ohio/Kentucky border with the Bengals (1-8) getting the honor. One thing is guaranteed about the top selection. He better bring plenty of long johns and have a thick skin for losing.

    Eichorn: It is so sad to watch the Lions and think about how many draft choices they wasted. They thought Michigan State’s Charles Rogers would blossom into an NFL top-tier receiver. He did not. They thought Mike Williams of USC would bloom. He did not. They had Roy Williams pegged for stardom. He was traded to Dallas earlier this season. Now, it all falls on the shoulders and hands of Calvin Johnson. The supporting cast of Shaun McDonald and Mike Furrey must also step it up a notch.

    Morganroth: As I watched the Lions-Texans game at Houston recently, it was hard to believe the Lions took Rogers ahead of Miami of Florida’s Andre Johnson. But it’s hard to hammer the Lions on this selection because everyone wanted the highly touted local kid and nobody imagined that Rogers would be the bust that he became. We were hoping that he’d have a productive career like Plaxico Burress of the defending champion New York Giants.

    What’s even harder to believe is two star receivers from tradition filled powerhouses failed. Mike Williams and Rogers were a joke. While the Lions salvaged the Roy Williams pick by landing future draft choices from Dallas, and Georgia Tech’s Johnson could be great with a good offensive coordinator, there were too many picks here that haven’t shown better results.

    Eichorn:  The Lions will drop to 0-9 should they fail to defeat the Jaguars this Sunday at Ford Field. How sadly ironic it is that the Lions will introduce their 75th anniversary team on that same day. The current Lions could learn an awful lot from those guys being honored on Sunday, guys like Barry Sanders, Lem Barney, Joe Schmidt, Charlie Sanders, Lomas Brown, Herman Moore and Alex Karras. Then comes the game that you want to cover at the Carolina Panthers.

    Morganroth: As I prepare to see the Lions visit Charlotte for a November 16 contest against the Panthers, the memory I have of my last trip there on December 12, 2003, was watching Detroit set the road losing record of 24 consecutive games. It doesn’t look good this time either. They could be 0-9 headed into this game and likely will be 0-10 when they leave. Even the newly signed quarterback Daunte Culpepper may not be able to bail them out of this misery. I wonder if Matt Millen is going to watch this game let alone the others since he wrecked this franchise.

    Eichorn: But what of Marinelli? I have never seen a team keep a head coach with such a losing record for this long. Darryl Rogers went 18-40 and Marty Mornhinweg 5-27 before they were jettisoned, but Marinelli is only 10-30 and also needs to go…now! Make Jim Colletto the acting head coach and get on with the rest of the season. Then, let the new general manager, the guy replacing Millen, make the choice of the new head coach in the off-season. Let all current and former pro and college head coaches and assistant coaches apply who want to. Allow ample time to go through the process of hiring the right man to coach the Lions in 2009.

    Morganroth: One suggestion for the next head coach is one guy the Lions and their fans should be familiar with since he has broadcast a few of their games on Fox-TV. Former Baltimore Ravens coach Brian Billick would be the logical choice especially with the signing of Culpepper since they both worked together in Minnesota. The man has a Super Bowl ring in 2000, understands the NFC North, and even won the title with Trent Dilfer at quarterback. Wonder if Culpepper saw Johnson as the next Randy Moss and just imagine if Billick had this combination to work with.

    The last time the Lions hired a Baltimore-based winning Super Bowl coach was Don McCafferty who went 6-7-1 here in 1973. He never made it to a second Lions season as he died of a heart attack in ‘74. While it may take time for Billick to win, at least there is a decent nucleus in place, and plenty of draft choices of their own and from the Dallas trade. Billick should be able to revitalize Culpepper, plus make the most of his Cental Florida alumnus running back Kevin Smith. The Smith and Johnson combination should give the fans a reason to return to Ford Field. Billick, 54, will also give the media plenty of good quotes in an effort to sell tickets. Billick’s record including the postseason is 85-67 and is a native of Fairborn, Ohio.

Reach George Eichorn at geichorn@yahoo.com & Scott Morganroth at scottbullm33@comcast.net.

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