Inside the NFL
Lions’ rebuilding plan going on 50 years
They have never been to the Super Bowl. They have won one postseason game since 1957. That’s one playoff win in 51 years. Only once in the last 54 years has one of their quarterbacks made the Pro Bowl.
Woe is the Detroit Lions.
The Lions ended the latest miserable chapter last week by firing President and General Manager Matt Millen after eight years and a record of 31-84.
Now Detroit fans must once again stiffen their upper lips and prepare for more rebuilding.
Detroit has no answer at quarterback. Starter Jon Kitna is on his last legs at age 36, and there is no apparent solution on the roster in backups Dan Orlovsky and Drew Stanton.
The Lions aren’t young. They have nine starters in their 30s, six on defense. Their average age (27.33 years) is the fourth oldest in the league. Their offensive line needs rebuilding, although they did draft tackle Gosder Cherilus in the first round this year.
They also face the inevitable coaching turnover. Rod Marinelli is in his third year. It’s a near lock that whoever fills Millen’s leadership void is going to want his own head man.
Bottom line: Fans flocking to Ford Field have little to look forward to the next two seasons, if not longer.
Millen picks
Millen is a smart guy who was a great player, and he knows football. But there is a big difference between that and being an experienced personnel man. Millen had no scouting or management experience when he was hired, and it showed. He took receivers in the top 10 picks four times in five years. The bust rate of first-round receivers has been well documented. Roy Williams (No. 7 in 2004) and Calvin Johnson (No. 2 in 2007) are good players. But Millen either didn’t do his homework or disregarded the homework on Charles Rogers (No. 2 in 2003) and Mike Williams (No. 10 in 2005). Both came with well-known red flags for either character problems or shaky work ethic, or both. In 2003, Millen took Rogers one pick ahead of Andre Johnson, who has gone on to star for Houston. In 2005, the three players taken after Mike Williams were Cowboys pass rusher DeMarcus Ware, Chargers pass rusher Shawne Merriman and Saints tackle Jamaal Brown.
Brown on Browns
Apparently Browns coach Romeo Crennel is the lone holdout on the Derek Anderson bandwagon for the struggling, 0-3 Clevelanders.
That was the message last week from Browns Hall of Famer Jim Brown, an executive adviser for the franchise. Brown is tuned into the Browns’ brain trust. Last week Brown gave an interview to the Web site Pro- FootballCentral in which he indicated that most of the Browns executives favor starting Brady Quinn at QB.
“We all seem to be in one accord . . . but it’s up to the coach to make the final decision on his lineup this week,” Brown said. “But if he makes the right decision on his lineup this week, I think we can be out of this terrible kind of depression we’re in.”
Brown elaborated:
“We don’t have a superstar quarterback. We have two that have tremendous potential. One has played a lot more than the other has, successfully, and also had some failure. If we try Brady this week, it’s a change of pace. Why not have a change of pace that might bring you a spark? And if he doesn’t cut it, we can bring the other guy back, and we can bring Brady back.”
The Browns (0-3) are last in scoring, last in total offense and last in passing. They have played three tough defenses (Dallas, Pittsburgh and Baltimore). This week they get an easier test, at Cincinnati.
Run Slaton
Texans rookie RB Steve Slaton, a third-round pick from West Virginia, looks like he has fallen into a good situation. He made his first start last week against the Titans, who might have the most physical front seven in the NFL. He rushed for 116 yards on 18 carries. With aging Ahman Green still hobbled, Slaton is the starter.
Alex Gibbs, the Texans’ assistant head coach and offensive line chief, has a great track record with runners. In Gibbs’ past 11 seasons as an assistant coach (in Denver and Atlanta), he has had a back rush for 1,000 yards every year but one (2001).
Slaton is 5-foot-9 and a solid 198 pounds. He is a home-run hitter with good hands. He ran a 4.45 40.
“He’s going to be a great player,” said Texans receiver Andre Johnson. “He’ll open up doors for the rest of us. He made some real good runs. One time he came up out of a pile, where it seemed like the whole field had stopped playing, and he just kept on running. He’s our guy now.”
Aussie rules
Eagles punter Sav Rocca, an Australian who had his first NFL tryout a few years ago in Buffalo with the Bills, is off to a great start in his second season. Rocca, 34, last year became the oldest rookie in NFL history. The 6- foot-5, 265-pounder is the 13th all-time leading goal-kicker in Australian rules football history. But as his career in Australia headed toward the downside, he decided to make the switch to the NFL. He had a 48.7-yard average entering last week’s game. Against the Steelers, he put three punts inside the 10-yard line and had a 64-yarder in the fourth quarter to flip field position. Rocca, who ranked 11th in the NFC last year in gross average, seems to have a better feel for kicking this year.
Rocca is co-owner of a pizza shop in Australia and likes the pizza Down Under better than in the United States.
“The pizza around here is very different,” he said. “It’s a little too thin. Australian pizza is thick and it offers more variety as far as toppings go. You can get pretty much anything you want on it.”
Onside kicks
• Here’s an AFL trivia item for the
most hard-core of long-time fans. How many men played all 10 seasons in the AFL? There were 19. Their names, and the teams with which they served the most time: George Blanda (Raiders), Billy Cannon (Raiders), Gino Cappelletti (Pats), Larry Grantham (Jets), Wayne Hawkins (Raiders), Jim Hunt (Pats), Harry Jacobs (Bills), Jack Kemp (Bills), Paul Lowe (Chargers), Jacky Lee (Oilers), Bill Mathis (Jets), Paul Maguire (Bills), Don Maynard (Jets), Ron Mix (Chargers), Jim Otto (Raiders), Babe Parilli (Pats), Johnny Robinson (Chiefs), Paul Rochester (Jets) and Ernie Wright (Chargers).
• Because of their hurricane-induced postponement, the Texans open the season with three straight brutal road games. They lost the first two (at Pittsburgh and Tennessee) and play today at Jacksonville. Next week they face Indy in their home opener. The roof of Reliant Stadium will be open for the first time due to damage during Ike. It will be the first time an NFL game in Houston will be played in open air since the Oilers played at Rice Stadium in 1967.
• Ravens reserve safety Jim Leonhard, the former Bill, filled in admirably last week for injured safety Dawan Landry. Leonhard had two 30-yard kickoff returns, a 22-yard punt return and a sack on defense. He starts Monday night, with Landry still out due to a neck injury.
• The Chiefs have lost 12 straight and have not even held a lead in the last 21 quarters.
