I Hate Mondays: Arrivederci Mariucci

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The Detroit Lions are a sleeper team this year — keep an eye on them, they'll make a run for the NFC North title.

Not.

They might be making a run, but after a 36-8 bludgeoning at the hands of the Chicago Bears on Sunday, it's pretty obvious that they are running in the wrong direction.

But if you are at all familiar with the team, then you know that it has been this way for a little while now.

They haven't finished higher than third in their division since 1995 and have only posted two winning seasons in that span.

Not even head coach Steve Mariucci, who took over after a housecleaning in 2003, has been able to mold this run-of-the-mill unit into a winner, as the team is 12-22 during his tenure.

It's time for him to go.

As a coach, it is your job to extract the most out of your roster and he has completely failed in that aspect.

First, there was no quarterback. Enter Joey Harrington. Then there was no running back. Enter Kevin Jones. Then Joey needed weapons. Enter Charles Rogers, Roy Williams, Mike Williams, and Marcus Pollard.

The results:

An offense that ranked 32nd in 2003 and 24th in 2004. The same offense that mustered a total of only six points on Sunday and labored to reach 17 points against a porous Green Bay Packers defense the previous week.

After Green Bay allowed 26 points at home to the Cleveland Browns, the 17 points that Detroit tallied arduously — at home — doesn't really impress.

Is this what five top-flight first-round picks gets you nowadays?

Something tells me Bill Belichick or John Fox would reap better production out of this group.

But the talent hasn't only poured in through early rounds of the draft, each offseason the Lions have added talented free agents such as Dre Bly, Fernando Bryant, Damien Woody, Kennoy Kennedy, R.W. McQuarters, and Earl Holmes. The output is not commensurate to the caliber of players on this team.

Normally, when a team is in disarray, the coach is quickly put on the hot seat, so why shouldn't Mooch start to feel the pressure?

Sure, they are only 1-1 in 2005 and the season has yet to finish the second week of play, but it is pretty clear that this will not be a championship team. Even a playoff appearance is a stretch for this underachiever.

No team ever dreads playing the Lions. All they are is a world of potential that continues to be nothing more than a declawed kitty cat.

They have gifted athletes at all the skill positions, but they lack the mental toughness to be considered seriously. Usually, that type of attitude seeps down from the coach.

Take the Cincinnati Bengals, for example — they are quite possibly the Lions’ AFC equivalent. They also used to be a perennial loser and had several high first-round draft picks, but under head coach Marvin Lewis, who also took over at the start of the 2003 season, they have developed into a serious hazard on everyone's schedule.

The Bengals have gone from a team that used to discover novel ways to lose winnable football games to a team who will pounce on miscues and take advantage. They don't beat themselves anymore, they beat the opponent.

The Lions are still working on that concept and they are still dependent on their foe's mistakes to take control of a game. If they can't force any turnovers, then they usually struggle.

So who do you blame when the on-field ability is present, but the results are not coming in? Obviously, the coach.

They play with little intensity and need a kick in the behind to get motivated. If Mariucci isn't doing that, then they should hire somebody who will.

The Detroit Lions and the playoffs mix like Mondays and me.

"Ah, women. They make the highs higher and the lows more frequent." – Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche

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