Rampage;2411509 said:
Monday, November 10, 2008 .John Niyo: Jaguars 38, Lions 14
Perfectly inept: Culpepper debuts; 0-9 Lions remain terrible as ever
DETROIT
They are now a caricature of themselves.
And Sunday, in the midst of another one-sided loss, the signs of frustration were as evident as the empty seats at Ford Field, where the paid attendance was just 52,631.
There was Leigh Bodden -- one of the Lions' supposed key offseason acquisitions -- kicking an orange pylon in disgust after getting beat for another Jacksonville touchdown in the third quarter of a 38-14 loss.
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And there was Daunte Culpepper, the free-agent quarterback signed last week, on the very next possession, shaking his head as he left the field for the last time. Operating out of the shotgun, he had just been sacked by no fewer than four Jacksonville rushers on third-and-six. Stephen Peterman, the only lineman to hold his blocking assignment at the line, was flagged for holding on the play.
In a nutshell, this was the display on a day Detroit's football franchise officially celebrated its 75th: Ineptitude, in almost every respect. And even the new guys seem to realize this tired, old act has careened past repetitive and run headlong into ridiculous.
The Lions are 0-9, losers of 16 of their last 17 dating to last season's second-half tailspin. That's not just awful -- it's the worst stretch in Lions history.
You need to win -- oh, really?
And moments after Rod Marinelli, now 10-31 in his third season as coach, had finished another dreary postgame news conference, Lions chief operating officer Tom Lewand reluctantly restated the obvious.
"We need to win football games," Lewand said. "And I know that sounds like a broken record, but that's what it is. It's not about sales jobs, it's not about what's popular, it's about what's right. And what's right is winning football games.
"And really, the bottom line is every one of us, from the top of the organization -- from our ownership -- down to the bottom of the organization, is judged on how many games we win. And clearly, our record isn't there. And our focus is on getting there. Period. End of story."
End of misery? No chance.
As the injuries mount -- defensive ends Jared DeVries (broken hand) and Dewayne White (calf) are the latest casualties -- so does the doubt, especially for a defense that exited Sunday's game with its league-worst ranking firmly intact.
Jacksonville, fresh off a loss last week to an 0-8 Cincinnati team, arrived in Detroit looking like a team in disarray. But Sunday, the Jaguars simply manhandled the Lions, piling up 384 yards and scoring touchdowns on five consecutive possessions, something only one other NFL team -- Arizona in a Week 4 loss at the New York Jets -- had managed this season prior to Sunday.
Maurice Jones-Drew had three short touchdown runs in the second quarter as the Jaguars turned a 7-3 Lions lead into a 24-7 halftime deficit. The home team was roundly booed as it headed to the locker room, and who could argue? In three of four home games this season, the Lions have trailed by 17 points or more at halftime.
"When they're physical like that, it's tough," Marinelli said of the defeat. "It's tough to swallow."
More and more misery
It only got worse in the third quarter as Jacksonville took the opening kickoff and marched downfield on a 15-play, 83-yard drive to make it 31-7, capped by quarterback David Garrard's 7-yard toss to Jerry Porter. The Jaguars ran 21 plays to the Lions' three in the third quarter.
At that point, even Jacksonville had seen enough. Turns out there is a mercy rule in the NFL, after all.
"We basically shut it down after three quarters," Jaguars coach Jack Del Rio admitted, "and just finished the game."
Garrard finished 18-of-25 for 238 yards, two touchdowns and no interceptions, good for a 128.4 passer rating. He became the seventh quarterback in nine games to post a season-high passer rating against the Lions.
Stanton steps in
Culpepper's day also ended after three quarters, as Marinelli opted to sit him in favor of backup Drew Stanton, who played in the first quarter as the Lions' goal-line quarterback. Stanton capped the Lions' first-quarter scoring drive with a 1-yard pass to tight end John Owens, and he led an 11-play drive for a touchdown in the fourth.
But Stanton also was sacked five times, and Marinelli left little doubt Culpepper -- who was 5-of-10 for 104 yards only five days after signing his contract -- was still his starter.
"He's a talented guy," Del Rio said of Culpepper. "I told him after the game, 'Good luck with getting this thing going again.' "
Thanks, Coach. He'll need it.
Just because it was on Sunday Ticket doesn't mean you watched it.
:bang2: