Fire Martz -- or stay out of his way

[BigGameMN]

Terrific article on Martz and the turmoil in Detroit

ALLEN PARK -- This is what Detroit Lions coach Rod Marinelli should do with offensive coordinator Mike Martz: Fire him or leave him alone.

Marinelli has to take a stand one way or the other because the current situation isn't working. After the Thanksgiving Day game with the Green Bay Packers, win or lose, Marinelli has to sit down and decide his course of action.

Now, some people might think a midseason firing is too drastic and could disrupt the team. After all, they're still 6-4 at this point and sitting pretty good in the wild-card race so why rock the boat too much?

Well, here's why. The situation behind the scenes has been rocky and tumultuous for the last several weeks. Members of the coaching staff -- the offensive staff -- have openly questioned Martz's desire to run the ball and some of the offensive players are upset the Lions aren't making more of a commitment to running the ball. Martz has felt the pressure and is doing things he normally wouldn't do.

The root of the problem is Martz's desire to throw the ball and his less-than-enthusiastic approach to running it. What? This is breaking news? Marinelli knew what he was getting when he hired Martz last year and he probably also knew that this day would come, when he would be at the crossroads and would have to decide whether the Lions are better off with him or without him.

Marinelli needs to take the Thanksgiving break and decide whether he's going to turn the offense over to wide receiver coach Kippy Brown or if he's going to get his offensive coaches and players together and tell them to knock off the chirping and just do whatever the hell Martz tells them to do.

Look, Martz isn't always the easiest guy to deal with and he does things radically different than most coaches, but he's either your guy or he isn't. There are some things that he does that drive the coaches and players crazy. One thing that's driving everybody crazy is his use -- or lack thereof - of rookie receiver Calvin Johnson.

If you look at that Lions game Sunday, though, you have to come to the conclusion that the Lions -- with Martz calling plays in the fourth quarter -- should have won that game. The reality is that, after 60 minutes, Martz had them in excellent position to win.

That pass to Shaun McDonald in the end zone? The one where everybody rips the decision to throw a jump ball to the 5-foot-8 McDonald who was covered by the 6-3 Giants safety? Folks, it was a great call. The idea was for the speedy McDonald to beat the bigger and slower safety and McDonald had a couple of steps on him. The problem was that Jon Kitna threw the ball too late, allowing James Butler to catch up and get in position to intercept the ball. (In Kitna's defense, pressure forced him to slide out of the pocket, causing the delay in releasing the ball.)

Good call, poor execution.

A few series earlier, Roy Williams had two easy touchdown opportunities and the Lions came up empty both times.

On the first one, Kitna threw a poor pass to Williams, who was wide open on the left sideline and would've scored a touchdown but had to make a leaping catch to just stay inbounds. It was a 28-yard completion, but it should have gone for 78.

Good call, poor execution.

Two plays later, the Lions had the right blitz call on and Kitna fired a perfect strike up the left sideline to Williams. Unfortunately, Williams failed to read the blitz properly and ran a post pattern instead.

Good call, poor execution.

Anybody see a trend here? Martz is such a polarizing figure that when everything is going smoothly, his idiosyncrasies can be tolerated but when things aren't going well he's a lightning rod for attack and criticism. Martz brings most of this on himself with the way he operates but, again, that's not the point. He's either your guy or he isn't.

I don't agree with everything Martz does, but I do agree with Martz's assertion that the Lions must be a pass-first team to be effective. Yes, the running game needs to be involved but it's going to be most productive when it's used as a change-of-pace vehicle, not the staple of the offense. The Lions need to quit worrying about how to get the running game more involved and figure out how to get that passing attack cranked up again.

But a decision needs to be made first.

Marinelli must keep Martz and support him or fire him. If Marinelli believes Martz causes more problems than he solves, there's no reason to delay the inevitable. If you're going to keep him, get mad at him all you want, but leave him alone. The bottom line is that Marinelli must do something because just letting this thing slowly unravel would be the worst decision of all.

http://www.mlive.com/lions/stories/i...370.xml&coll=6

[UtterBlitz]

yup good article...it shows that Martz is still talented and still hard to work with.

[moklerman]

I've really done an about-face on my impressions of Kitna. I used to think he was a pretty good QB that got the shaft by Seattle and Cincinnatti. Now, I think he's mediocre and will ultimately make the wrong decision, a bad throw or both. Accuracy is paramount to what Martz wants and likes to do on offense and Kitna doesn't have enough of it. I've thought Kitna somewhat of a square peg in Martz's offense and I think it's starting to show.

[txramsfan]

When Detroit let Martz do his thing, they were winning. When Detroit started whining about Martz, they started losing.

Trend?

[laram0]

In Martz's system the QB has to have physical talent to a certain extent but more importantly has to be tough and have the ability to analyze the field very quickly.

Kitna has the physical tools just a little slow (for Martz's system) on the scanning the field process.

The passing game can be used as a replacement for the running game.

[BigGameMN]

I think the most important thing for a Martz offense to work properly is a terrific O-Line. Detroit doesn't have one. Kitna leads the league in sacks because the line can't protect well enough to let those deep routes develop. Get a good line and I believe Kitna will be just fine.

[Drew]

Martz is good and has improved the Detroit O of that there is no doubt!
but hes only ever had one game plan and when hes come up against a D that can deal with that game plan then thats it, game over..has he learnt anything since his first year in St louis as an OC ? he still dont seem to be able to come up with a plan B...next destination San Diego maybe?....

ive always had a soft spot for Detroit as i can relate to their fans( a long suffering fan base who have stayed loyal to their team,just like us) and wished them well aslong as it hasn`t been against us but since Martz has been there i kind of dont want them to win so much as i dont think i could handle 30 posts a day saying we shouldn`t have let Martz go....

[ramsanddodgers]

I've really done an about-face on my impressions of Kitna. I used to think he was a pretty good QB that got the shaft by Seattle and Cincinnatti. Now, I think he's mediocre and will ultimately make the wrong decision, a bad throw or both. Accuracy is paramount to what Martz wants and likes to do on offense and Kitna doesn't have enough of it. I've thought Kitna somewhat of a square peg in Martz's offense and I think it's starting to show.

Whew.... I was scared where this was headed...:\

[ramsanddodgers]

In Martz's system the QB has to have physical talent to a certain extent but more importantly has to be tough and have the ability to analyze the field very quickly.
Kitna has the physical tools just a little slow (for Martz's system) on the scanning the field process.

The passing game can be used as a replacement for the running game.

So, LaRam, you are saying he needs a former Arena League QB?!?

[laram0]

So, LaRam, you are saying he needs a former Arena League QB?!?

Yes, someone with grocery store experience preferred.