Time for a change

It was a battle of two teams that are just not very good.

The Detroit Lions came into Chicago to play the Bears this past Sunday and perhaps salvage a season that is building up momentum as it rolls downhill.

Each team saw this as their game to win. In the end, however, it was the Bears that made the plays and got the victory, which is no surprise to any Detroit Lions fan. After all, the Lions have lost 20 consecutive games on the road.

This is crazy.

I didn't look up all the statistics on all the other NFL teams, but I think I can safely say that no other team is this terrible.

At least last year, the Lions were 2-5 at this point in the season and had beaten the Bears.

Yes, Marty Mornhinweg had a better record seven games into the season than Steve Mariucci who was supposed to make this Lion team better.

But, let's look at the positives of this game.

The Lions were two for two on two point conversions. It's just too bad they don't get into the end zone enough to take advantage of the two points they can get after each score.

Then, Lion fans can be happy that the team "battled," "didn't give up," "played hard," and you can add your own loser team quotes.

Joey Harrington tells the media the same thing every week.

"With a break here and there," or "if we got that onside kick" we could have won the game.

Maybe if you would have played a full game, Joey, instead of a quarter you might win too.

Harrington is far from being the only reason the Lions looked bad again. The Lions receivers must coat their hands with Vaseline before the game. They simply cannot catch.

At one point, the receivers dropped four straight balls. This should not happen week after week, but it does.

Some of the blame has to fall on Mariucci, too. He sees these guys in practice and should know who can play and who can't. He needs to shake up the team.

Then you hear fans blame their problems on injuries. Again, a loser excuse.

The Bears had six starters miss the game because of injuries and had some rookies fill their positions. They did quite well and had some impact on the games.

Mariucci should see this, bench some guys, and give some rookies or free agents a chance.

It is well past time for a change in the personnel.

David Kircus is a rookie wide receiver on the practice squad who may deserve a chance to catch a ball in the NFL if the other wide receivers can't.

This season is over with anyway. Get some fresh new blood on the field and see who can play. Obviously, many of these Lions can't play.

We have seen that Matt Millen has screwed up this team as bad as Randy Smith did for the Detroit Tigers. Why is he still there?

If the Lions continue to stumble through the rest of the season, then they will get a high draft choice. I don't want Millen making that decision again. Fire him already William Clay Ford.

The Lions personnel guys also don't seem to have a plan. Here are some clues for them.

Defense wins more than offense. Build your defense from the bottom up, and then worry about your offense.

Unfortunately, Mariucci is an offensive coach, but he has to be smart enough to see that the Lions defense needs to get better. Picking a wide receiver with the second pick of the draft is not the smartest thing to do when receivers are a dime a dozen. Just look at fantasy leagues.

The Lions also need a running back, so if they don't want to concentrate on the defense, concentrate on getting a good back. The running game is pathetic.

Congratulations Bears, you won the battle of the 1-5 records and leap ahead of the Lions in the standings. You deserved it. You played harder and made more of the bigger plays. Thanks for letting the Lions get some points to make it a more exciting game to watch at the end.

The Detroit Lions and their fans deserve a change of some kind. The team is getting worse as the year goes on.

Starting out with a big win against Arizona and seeing the defense make good plays while the offense did its part made the fans think that Mariucci was a miracle worker. But, this was only one miracle that looks like a fluke right now.

The Ford's, Millen, Mariucci, and Harrington need to take a look in the mirror and decide to do something to this Lions team for the fan's sake.

The paper bags are on Lion fans heads right now, and it is hard to watch the game and breathe at the same time.

Help them.