Lions coach Schwartz bringing a good vibe to Motown
06:57 PM CDT on Tuesday, September 29, 2009
Jim Schwartz understood the moment.
The first-year head coach of the Detroit Lions knew what Sunday’s 19-14 triumph over the Washington Redskins meant to his franchise and his new city. It was Detroit’s first victory in 20 games dating to 2007.
So Schwartz embraced the moment and sent his players back out onto the field from the locker room for a victory lap at Ford Field to meet and greet the long-suffering fans. Then it was over.
Schwartz wasn’t hired by the Lions to win one game. So he was quick to refocus his team.
“We’d like to get to a point where a regular-season win isn’t cause for celebration,” Schwartz said.
The Lions have been the worst team in the NFL this decade with only 41 victories in 147 games. Detroit burned through four head coaches – Bobby Ross, Marty Mornhinweg, Steve Mariucci and Rod Marinelli – before hiring Schwartz.
I believe they finally found the right guy.
Schwartz learned his craft from Bill Belichick and Jeff Fisher. He has a plan for the resurrection of the franchise, which was once a crown jewel of the NFL with three championships in the 1950s.
His plan is simple: You win on offense with talent and on defense with scheme. So he used the premium picks of his first draft on offensive talent, selecting quarterback Matthew Stafford with the first overall pick of the 2009 draft and tight end Brandon Pettigrew with the 20th overall choice.
Schwartz brought in a veteran defensive coordinator (Gunther Cunningham) and veteran defenders at all three levels – Grady Jackson at tackle, Larry Foote and Julian Peterson at linebacker and Anthony Henry and Will James at cornerback.
Foote started in the Super Bowl last February with the Steelers and Peterson has started in Pro Bowls. Jackson gives the Lions a 345-pound presence in the middle of their run defense, and both Henry and James provide a physical presence on the corner.
The premise is that a veteran defense allows the Lions to compete in games until a young offense can come around.
Schwartz is starting Stafford and Pettigrew. Starting running backs Kevin Smith and Jerome Felton are in their second season, as is right tackle Gosder Cherilus. Pro Bowl wide receiver Calvin Johnson is in his third season, as is guard Manny Ramirez.
There are some veterans sprinkled in on offense (blockers Dominic Raiola and Jeff Backus), and some youth sprinkled in on defense. Rookies DT Sammie Hill, LB DeAndre Levy and S Louis Delmas all start. The Lions have the seventh youngest lineup in the NFL.
Losing has been contagious in Detroit for a decade. It has become habit. But winning also can become a habit, and the youth of the Lions finally know what a victory feels like. Better days loom ahead for Detroit. They may come sooner than any of us expected.
Let’s go with the Giants and Ravens, a rematch of the 2000 Super Bowl. Both are 3-0 and have defenses rounding into playoff form. The Giants posted their first shutout under new coordinator Bill Sheridan in a 24-0 victory over Tampa Bay, and the Ravens held Cleveland to a field goal in a 34-3 thrashing. Only one player remains on the two teams from that 2000 Super Bowl, Ravens middle linebacker Ray Lewis, the MVP of that game.
My last two weeks on the road have provided a rare treat for the ears. The Chicago Bears and Detroit Lions are two of the few NFL teams that have fight songs. Just like in college, after touchdowns, you hear the fight song. Both the Bears and Lions won those games, so I heard the songs often. In Chicago, it’s “Bear Down, Chicago Bears.” In Detroit, it’s “Gridiron Heroes.”
Call me a sentimentalist, but I think it’s neat. That’s one of the big edges I believe the Saturday college game experience has over the Sunday NFL game experience _ the bands, the music, the fight songs. “Hail to the Redskins” is one of my favorites. When I was covering the Kansas City Chiefs in the 1970s, then coach Marv Levy actually wrote the team fight song. Yes, the same Marv Levy who became a Hall of Fame coach with the Buffalo Bills. I wish all 32 NFL teams had fight songs. They’d help us get through all those TV timeouts.
Scott Pioli has been selected the NFL’s Executive of the Decade in some quarters for the work he did in the front office of the New England Patriots. Pioli put up the draft boards that produced three Super Bowl champions this decade. But he has his work cut out for him as the new general manager of the Kansas City Chiefs. He inherited a 2-14 team and has cleaned house, bringing in new coaches and new scouts. He also has turned over almost half the roster, bringing in 25 new players, including quarterback Matt Cassel.
But the Chiefs are 0-3 and could be in for a longer season than 2009, if that’s possible. The Chiefs will likely be favored in only one game this season – at home against Cleveland on Dec. 20. I’m going to see them play the New York Giants on Sunday. That’d be 0-4 and counting. The Chiefs have not started a season 0-4 since 1980. I covered that team, by the way.
Rick Gosselin shares his NFL analysis Wednesdays through Fridays on the NFL blog.
Rick Gosselin is the author of GoodFellows, the story of Detroit's surprisingly successful St. Ambrose football teams of the '50s and '60s.