Open Letter to Rod Marinelli: STOP PLAYING CONSERVATIVELY!

Say it again Rod. You'll do whatever it takes to win. Repeat your lie until you actually believe it.

It's not true. Not by a longshot. You don't have a clue as to how to play desperate and make no mistakes. The Lions should be a desperate football team.

Going into the Minnesota game, your team, our team, was 0-12. They were at a point where they had absolutely nothing to lose. So why did your playcalling reflect otherwise?

Multiple fourth downs inside the Vikings' red zone and the Lions continually opted for field goals. On one 4th-and-short the Lions had, you chose to run it up the middle against the Williams wall of Pat and Kevin Williams. A tactic that didn't work four times in a row for the Chicago Bears.

There are other plays you know. A play-action fake to Gaines perhaps?

I know on fourth down common sense says punt the ball or take the field goal. After all, any team with a few wins under their belt at least wants to save face and not get embarrassed.

Honestly, at this point, how much more can the Lions embarrass themselves? They need to stop worrying about embarrassment and start worrying about the history books.

Frankly, Rod Marinelli, you need to grow a spine, grit your teeth, dig your toes into the turf, and throw reason and conservatism out the window. You truly need to do whatever it takes to get a win.

The point in the Indianapolis game last Sunday in which it became glaringly obvious that you would not do whatever it takes came late in the fourth quarter.

There were five minutes left in the game and the Lions were down by a touchdown. Their drive stalled near midfield and you elected to punt the ball. I was flabbergasted; I was furious.

You betrayed every remaining Lions fan in existence with that call, do you even get it? I saw it coming. When I saw that punt team come out there with five minutes on the clock, I said to my surrounding friends, "The Colts are going to drain the clock down, the Lions won't even get the ball back this game"

Why could I see what you could not? I'm just a fan! Sure enough, not only did Indianapolis drain the clock down, they added a field goal to put the game out of reach. The time remaining for the Lions was 23 seconds.

Good job, Rod.

Now what could have happened if the Lions took a shot on fourth down? They might not have made it and would have lost the game. No one would have been surprised, but no one could say you didn't try.

Now what if the Lions made that fourth down?

It was a close competitive game against Indianapolis. Something that was unthinkable in the eyes of fans and the media. Dan Orlovsky had matched Peyton Manning the entire game up until the fourth quarter. Also unthinkable.

This team could have beaten the Colts, Rod, but we'll never know because you didn't see fit to give them a chance. You stuck to conservative playcalling.

Grow a freaking spine for crying out loud Marinelli! The players will respect you for it. You may not care about going 0-16, but your players sure do.

You have two chances left against a high-powered New Orleans offense and against the Green Bay Packers, where the Lions haven't won in almost 20 years. If you think conservative playcalling is going to get you that win, you're out of your mind. 

At this point, I think GM Martin Mayhew should review his options very carefully and perhaps even remove you as coach. He needs to know, we need to know, that you will truly do whatever it takes to win one of these final two games.

Don't shame us again Rod. Go all out and we'll respect your decisions, even in defeat. Not even trying, or taking even one crazy chance is worse than getting blown out.