A Silver Lining for the Lions...

Todays post is brought to you courtesy of my favorite band in the world, Nickelback. Genius lyrics, talented musicians and a wide display of diversity are just a few things this band does absolutely worse than every other band in the world. Save Three Days Grace.

Unless you are living in a sports gossip vacuum I am certain you have heard the instantly popular words out of William Ford Jr.'s mouth yesterday: I would fire Matt Millen if I were in charge of operations here. Does someone in that organization actually have a brain? Actually care if the team wins or loses? Doubtful, but I think Bill Jr. is realizing that the team's performance is going to hit them where it counts, their pocket book. I doubt there will be another Gardner-White to bail them out of another potential black out game. So the real question is: does firing Millen improve the Lions chances at being a NFL contender once again? The answer.....can it really hurt?

To start things off we can all save the thought that the Fords are ever going to sell this franchise, its theirs and it makes them a lot of money, and lets face it, owning a professional team of any sort just screams baller.

Currently it would take three straight undefeated seasons for the Lions (under Millen) to climb their way back to a .500 record. Under Millens reign the team, based upon win percentage, is the worst team in the league, and during this time teams like the Arizona Cardinals have gone from historically one of the worst teams in all sports to a real contender. Hey if they can do it Millen can too right??? As GM of the Lions Matt Millen is directly responsible for the talent on the team whether that be draft picks, contract extensions, free agent signings and team coaches.

Lets take a look at Millens draft day decisions.
-Joey Harrington
-Charles Rogers
-Mike Williams
-Kevin Jones
-Shaun Rodgers
ALL of these players are no longer with the team and 4 out of 5 of them are first round picks. What do the Lions have to show for them? Leigh Bodden...a cornerback who just got a starting role on possibly the leagues worst defense. I also can not forget what happened on draft day a year and a half ago, second round begins and we have already taken Calvin Johnson and David Harris is still available. Eager with anticipation I look at my roommate and distinctly remember saying Harris is the guy...he has to be...I swear even Millen can't screw this one up. He did. The Lions select Drew Stanton. Great so what does that mean? Paris Lenon is the starting middle linebacker and could quite possibly be the most incapable one in the history of organized football. Out of every draft that Matt Millen has been involved with the ONLY players that really worked out are Calvin Johnson, Ernie Sims, and Roy Williams. Its a little early to tell but Kevin Smith should work his way onto that list as well.

Onto contract extensions. Jeff Backus? Corey Redding? These guys are some of the highest paid players at their respective positions and probably would be sitting on the bench on any contending NFL team. There are countless more, but these current ones really drive me crazy.

Really what this all boils down to is that the "talent" Millen is providing just isn't cuttin' the cheese so to speak. Using this year as an example, players are often in the right position and are making good decisions, but not executing. To the average person this looks like a coaching problem and I would have to differ. The Lions have had 5 coaches under Millen and these execution problems haven't changed, even with a coach like Rod Marinelli who preaches fundamentals and displays them by wrestling a bear similar to the way Will Farrell does it in Semi-Pro. Folks, this is the NFL and every guy on any team is there because of how good they were in college or in another lesser football league, they all know how to make plays; some are just better than others. It is Matt Millens job to discern between these players who exactly is cut out for a starting role on an NFL team and which ones are destined to be NFL journeymen because their talent is never really up to par. Congrats Matt, your draft day success is somewhere around 5%.

Will the firing of Matt Millen make this team do a 180 and compete to be one of the best teams in the NFC? No. But like I said earlier, it sure can't hurt. It would give the fans something to reside in for another year of embarrassment. A shining light could be at the end of this seemingly endless tunnel of pitch black.

Hey, I hear Marty Shottenheimer is lookin' for a job...

Until then, GO CHARGERS!!! Even though my heart will always be with these lowly lovable Lions...