Detroit Lions Fans Running Out of People to Blame

Over the past decade, the Detroit Lions have been better at developing scapegoats than developing players.

Matt Millen. Rod Marinelli. Joe Barry. Jim Colletto. George Foster. Travis Fisher. Jon Kitna. Paris Lenon.

I could go on. All of the names above have been instigators of a Bronx cheer at Ford Field as well as the subject of numerous message board posts decrying, “Fire/cut (name)!”

The other common thread between them? All of them were with the team in 2008. None of them are with the team as of Monday.

So, what now? “Fire Millen” is long gone. No more cracks on Marinelli’s “pick and shovel.” No more jokes about “the head coach’s son-in-law.” Colletto’s “simplified offense,” which soon became “simple for defenses to read,” is gone too.

Fisher will have to look for somewhere else to fall down in coverage.

Lenon is no longer the anchor for the second-worst scoring defense of all time.

Kitna, “Mr. Right Now” on paper, “Mr. Never” in your heart, is back where he should be: sitting the bench, preparing for his big chance to give away games by turning the ball over five times.

Finally, “False Start” Foster, whose reputation precedes him, was cut Sunday. He may now pursue other offenses to destroy five yards at a time.

There, I’ve taken a potshot at everyone as they left the team, but I still feel empty. Martin Mayhew and Jim Schwartz are doing such a good job of ridding the team of leftover malcontents, there really aren’t any more established underacheivers left to trash.

This is good, and yet it poses a problem. What are Lions fans to do now? This team is improved, and yet there is a great deal of losing to be had in the days ahead.

The difference is, the Lions lack the familiar faces to blame, and will have to find new ones. There can be no “Fire Millen” chant this season when the Lions are losing by 30 to the Packers, no railing against Foster for his second holding penalty of the offensive series.

Fans will point fingers, but those fingers will be wobbly, wavering, darting to and fro, unsure of where to settle.

The fans will be lost for a while, stuck somewhere between blind optimism and the crushing feeling in the pits of their stomachs that anything that goes right will eventually be destroyed.

The Lions will experience both this year. They’ll win a game or two that they shouldn’t and lose a game or two that they shouldn’t. Heroes will emerge, and so will scapegoats. But who will those scapegoats be?

Matthew Stafford? He’ll be on the bench for most or all of the season. You can’t blame a rookie who’s not playing, no matter how big his contract is.

Larry Foote? He’s a huge upgrade from Lenon, and he’s learning a 4-3 defense on the fly. And besides, he’s a hometown boy who left a Super Bowl champion to join an 0-16 team. That’s dedication.

Schwartz? He’s in his first year as a head coach with a completely new staff and a broken roster.

Mayhew? Maybe, but he did pull off the Williams and Kitna trades.

Owner William Clay Ford? Absolutely. But how do you criticize a man people only hear from once a year? He’s not listening.

It’s a transitional time for the Lions. It seems the newest version of the organization delights in cutting bad players from its roster rather than adding them.

That makes it difficult for a fan base whose only solace over the last decade has been jeering the organization and the awful players it refuses to cut.

Does this mean things have turned around? Are happy days here again (were they ever here in the first place)?

Not yet, but they’re on the right track, and maybe Lions fans will have a few more cheers than jeers this year.

At least until they figure out who the new scapegoat is.

Dean Holden is the "Voice of the Lions" on NFLTouchdown.com. Check it out for in-depth analysis on the Lions and all 31 other NFL teams.