Detroit is running out of scapegoats, excuses and time.
Mike Martz is gone. Matt Millen is done.
More should follow.
Three guys have to go: Defensive coordinator Joe Barry, offensive coordinator Jim Coletto and special teams coach Stan Kwan.
Third-year head coach Rod Marinelli's clock management is still terrible. His record in challenges is awful. And the team is regressing in nearly every phase after a 7-9 season in which its looked like it was on the verge of turning the corner.
Meanwhile, the scared coaches are desperately clinging to playing average-at-best veterans like George Foster, Paris Lenon and Jared DeVries over young guys like high draft picks Gosder Cherilus, Jordan Dizon, Ike Alama-Francis and Cliff Avril when the season is so obviously a total loss.
Barry the hatchet
Only San Francisco has allowed more points, and the 49ers limited Detroit to 13. Fellow winless franchise Cincinnati has given up 182 points to Detroit's 187 -- and the Bengals have played one more game.
According to reports, Brett Favre gave the Lions a detailed scouting report on the Packers' offense, and yet Green Bay still went off for 48 points on Detroit. So, the Lions were allegedly handed inside info on the Pack's offense, and yet Barry couldn't stop it. Or even slow it down.
Marinelli put himself in a bad spot by hiring his son-in-law. If he's unwilling to put his daughter's husband out of work, the new general manager better find someone who will.
Offensive, indeed
On the other side of the ball, the Lions appear totally clueless in the first quarter. Detroit hasn't scored a single point in the opening quarter and has trailed by a combined 54-0 after 15 minutes.
Coletto, a longtime offensive coordinator in college who has never held the position in the NFL prior to this season, seems only to be able to score points after Detroit is down 21-0.
Running the ball on third-and-17? I've seen more creative play-calling in Tecmo Bowl.
Kwan-tum leap?
Special teams have been anything but since Kwan took over for retired Chuck Priefer, who made the Lions one of the best on special teams even when the rest of the team was horrible.
An assistant under Priefer, Kwan appears overwhelmed and totally outclassed as the main guy. Detroit's coverage units have been OK, but the return game is almost non-existent, frequently putting the offense in bad positions. Detroit started inside its own 10 four times on Sunday, including three straight inside the 5 in the fourth quarter.
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