The Beer Thinker Asks: Is the Detroit Lions' 2009 Season Doomed?

Over the past few days, I’ve read some articles, specifically on the Bleacher Report, pretty much indicating the 2009 Detroit Lions' season is over.

C’mon folks. What was it that you expected to happen this year? 

Some will say that I am a bit overly optimistic when it comes to the Lions. That optimism was tested severely last year as week after week, the Lions looked no better than a high school team. The team from Friday Night Lights could have beaten them it got so bad.

But that’s last year. While it was painful and embarrassing, it is over and done with. 

Have the Lions improved? Hard to say at this point. 

A lot of fans, including myself, didn’t agree in taking Matthew Stafford with the first pick. I would have much rather watched the Lions take left tackle Jason Smith out of Baylor and traded the No. 20 pick to move up to get either defensive end Tyson Jackson or defensive tackle B.J. Raji.

However, the Lions did what they did and Stafford is projected to be the franchise quarterback of the Detroit Lions. I doubt that he will start any regular season games until after the bye but he will start this year to get used to playing against top-flight defenses. 

He hasn’t been pretty in preseason games, but I attribute that to nervousness and a learning curve. He is having a lot thrown at him and it will take time for him to get it down pat.

Yes, we have yet another coaching change, the fifth head coach since the 2000 season.

Yes, we had some lousy drafts under Matt Millen. 

Yes, last year was intolerable and embarrassing. 

Yes, we had a quarterback run out of his own end zone last year.

Yes, for the most part, the entire team had confused looks on their faces last year.

All hard and cold facts and no one can refute them. But must they be rehashed every time this current team makes a mistake?

I want someone, anyone, to show me any team in the NFL that plays perfectly. I’m not talking about undefeated seasons because even the Miami Dolphins in 1972 tossed interceptions and gave up sacks. Tom Brady, in that great 2007 season was sacked 21 times and threw eight interceptions. 

There is no such thing as a team that can play perfectly, even if they go undefeated, for an entire season.

Look at how awful the Arizona Cardinals were until the last few years. They were often compared to the Detroit Lions in futility. In 1998, the Cardinals went 9-7 and finished second in the NFC West. 

Over the next eight seasons, they never won more than seven games. In 2007, they finished 8-8 and last year, they went 9-7 and played the Pittsburgh Steelers very tough in Super Bowl XLIII. 

If not for a great catch by Santonio Holmes with 35 seconds left on the clock, the Cardinals could have very well won that game.

The point to all this?  Give the Lions some time, allow them to develop. Sure, we have been waiting to go back to the big dance since 1957 but we’ve had the monolithic obstacle of William Clay Ford Sr. standing in the way.

But last year’s embarrassment and the fact the Lions were blacked out the last five games last year as well as attendance being way down finally hit an area of William Clay Ford Sr. where it caused him to pay attention: his pocket book.

Matt Millen, gone.

Rod Marinelli, gone. 

Jon Kitna, gone. 

Roy Williams, gone.

Jim Colletto, gone.

In comes Martin Mayhew, who was hired by Millen, and made some solid moves to position the Lions to improve. 

In comes head coach Jim Schwartz, a defensive guru with the Tennessee Titans and a longtime associate of Jeff Fisher.

In comes defensive coordinator Gunther Cunningham whose first step was to scrap the cover-two defense and install a more attacking style of defense.

In comes Scott Linehan, who had great success as an offensive coordinator in Minnesota. 

These four people have the future of the Lions in their hands. They will have to face the scrutiny of Lions fans and no light will be as harsh if they fail. 

But we can’t call them failures yet, can we?