Detroit Lions Open Drew Stanton Era with Resounding Crunch

Drew Stanton should consider himself lucky to be alive.

In the fourth quarter of a 38-14 crushing at the hands of the Jacksonville Jaguars, Rod Marinelli decided it was a good time to embarrass the second-year quarterback. Apparently, three quarters of embarrassing Daunte Culpepper was enough.

The end result can only be described as painful.

Stanton, though he showed more than an occasional flash of potential, was hammered for almost as many sacks (five) as completed passes (six). He was able to spin away from a hit in the backfield for a gain of four yards, otherwise, the number would have been even.

Let me take this opportunity to say I have no idea whatsoever what is going on in the minds of Rod Marinelli and the Detroit Lions' coaching staff. In one breath, they say Drew Stanton isn't ready to play yet, because after all, he's only had a year-and-a-half to learn the playbook. So they sign Culpepper, and he's ready to start after five days and three practices?

As we saw Sunday, the answer is no.

I understand the position the Lions are in. As I thought they should, they have been playing Dan Orlovsky, to see what they have in him. Now Orlovsky is injured, and Kitna is unavailable, so it was down to starting Stanton or somebody off the street. Or worse, Drew Henson.

Either way, they were sending out a quarterback with the playbook on his arm. So they called on Culpepper.

That makes sense. Culpepper, though rusty and unconditioned, is more experienced in the league. He is not the franchise's future. It doesn't matter if he makes a fool of himself and goes 5-for-10 with a pick, because he's only there to fill up space and mentor the young guys, and the season has long been over.

Even if the decision went the other way, and Marinelli chose to start Stanton, I could understand it. It's ultimately a meaningless game, and why not give the kid some quality snaps under center with no pressure?

Instead, the Lions decided they wanted to have their cake and eat it, too. In a worse scenario than I could have imagined, Culpepper played for three ineffective quarters, and with the game out of reach and nothing to do but pass, Stanton came in to be the Jaguars' tee-off target.

Why? Are they determined to ruin the kid's confidence before the end of the season?

Stanton made a few good plays and actually went 6-for-8 in the quarter, but for the most part, he looked like a lost puppy at Michael Vick's house, running almost in circles before getting mauled by a half-ton's worth of defensive linemen.

Stanton doesn't know what he's doing yet, and he clearly was not prepared to play in this game. The most apparent example of this is the Lions' final drive.

Stanton made a great play, running 17 yards for what would have been a touchdown, but it got called back on a Rudi Johnson hold. Stanton responded by getting sacked twice. On 4th-and-34, he ran the play clock down to 10 while gasping for breath, held a three-second huddle, and threw a short pass to tight end Michael Gaines, falling 21 yards short of the first down.

These are rookie mistakes, and understandably so. Stanton will inevitably make these mistakes, whether he gets his starts now or next season or in 2010, but why does the team insist on setting him up for them? Stanton was sacked five times in one quarter, and maybe that's because the Lions were down 31 points by the time they decided to give him playing time?

Maybe the Lions just have a habit of ruining quarterbacks. Charlie Batch was one, Joey Harrington was another. Both were talented. Both were taken on the first day of the draft. Both started as rookies. Both were destroyed by high expectations on a low-talent team, and now neither has a starting job.

If the Lions' coaching staff continues to handle Stanton like this, we may be looking at a formerly talented third-string quarterback for the Raiders.

Handle with care.