Martz proves he wasn’t the problem in easy 49′ers Victory
The Detroit Lions faced their former offensive coordinator this afternoon when they played the San Francisco 49′ers. And Mike Martz gave the Lions a healthy dose of what they were presumed to base their entire raison d’etre upon on the way to a 31-13 San Fran victory: running the football. Let’s take a look at the stats:
Rushing Yardage
San Francisco - 182
Detroit - 116
How bad was it for the Lions? Well their best player on offense was Cincinnati castoff Rudi Johnson, who had 83 yards rushing and 48 yards receiving. He actually led all rushers in yardage and all receivers in yardage. Check it out for yourself because it’s absolutely true: Calvin Johnson and Roy Williams combined for 58 receiving yards. That sounds like an excellent use of two first-round draft picks, doesn’t it?
Here’s what I said about Mike Martz’s purported lack of commitment to the running game while he was the offensive coordinator in Detroit:
Here is how the Lions did in the run game against teams that were amongst the 10 worst run defenses based on ypc allowed.
Oakland: 5.1 ypc
Denver: 4.5 ypc
Bears: 4.1 ypc
KC: 4.3 ypcEvery one of those rushing averages would rank the Lions in the top half of the NFL. Mike Martz apparently understands when his team can run the ball and features the run in his offense.
That was certainly the case this afternoon [4.7 yards per carry!] when he realized his offense was going up against a piss poor run defense. So he did the logical thing: he ran the ball right down their freaking throats. This was all the more impressive when you consider he took last year’s third string quarterback and used him to double-up Jon Kitna’s QB rating this afternoon.
It was a phyrric victory of sorts for the Lions: they didn’t go down 21-0, only 21-3; they had their best afternoon thus far running the football but it was mostly after the game had been decided and Jon Kitna, Roy Williams and Calvin Johson had been completely marginalized; their best player this afternoon was a player Cincinnati let go because of his injury history and salary cap hit; and their defense allowed fewer than 400 yards of offense but the early part of the schedule was supposed to be cake before the competition became more difficult.
That last point is the most sobering. If the Lions cannot beat an Atlanta team that went 4-12 last season or a San Francisco team that went 5-11 then who will they beat this season? They are going to have to rely on teams over-looking them and considering the sad sack franchise to be an easy W.
Chicago? Kyle Orton is a better QB than JT O’Sullivan and Matt Forte will have a field day against this defense.
Minnesota? Adrian Peterson will easily rush for over 200 yards even if he only plays three quarters.
Houston? A road game against a team that went 8-8 last season.
Washington? They were 9-7 and have dominated Detroit every time the two franchises have played.
Jacksonville? 11-5 last season
Tennesse and Indy? They went a combined 23-9 last season.
What does that leave? New Orleans and Carolina, who both matched Detroit’s 7-9 record last season. The only downside is Detroit lost an offensive coordinator whose football IQ was probably the highest within the franchise. Oh, and only the New Orleans game is at home.
So right now it’s looking like 1-15 is a safe bet with the lone victory being a home game against the Saints. Get lucky and maybe Detroit beats Carolina on the road and splits with Chicago. That would get the team to 3-13. I just don’t see how they can win against Minnesota or at Green Bay. If you are a Detroit sports fan it is probably in your best interest to hope the team goes 0-16 as that would provide the best chance for Matt Millen to be sent packing and for the team to start over. At that point the Ford family, who are quite familiar with soul-crushing failure, would possibly even realize it’s time to go in another direction.
The Vietnam-era phrase about burning the village to save it is apropos for a franchise that has been one of the most inept franchises in professional sports for as far back as that war. Matt Millen’s leadership of the Detroit Lions has been a complete failure and the sooner the Ford family realizes that and removes him from his position the sooner the team can move in another direction to try and alter the storyline of this pathetic franchise.
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