Fooled..... Again

Skins fans, if you came here expecting a ranting manifesto, you will be disappointed.

Of course we suck.

We just lost to the Lions, and removed the albatross from their wretched necks.

But what is left to rant about?

We are, who we thought we were.

Chumps.

Suckers.

Fools.

Like many Skins fans, I ran at this year's football of a season with full Charlie Brown gusto. And once again, the ball has been yanked cruelly away from me at the last moment.

Why, oh why, did I think they would be marginally, hopefully, just-show-me-SOME-improvement better this season?

Because, I'm a fan. Which also stands for “sucker.”

We might just fire Jim Zorn in the next few weeks. It won't matter. Zorn is a SYMPTOM, not a cause.

They say in sports, the best players, and best teams, do more of the “little things” right than others. It is the accumulation of excellence, at the molecular level, in all things required of true winners, that separates.

Clearly, we do most little things wrong as a franchise. Dead wrong. Starting at the top, and soaking down through to the last little player on the roster.

We spend too much money on the wrong people. We keep guys on the roster for reasons bordering on nostalgia. We pamper our stars, while scolding our coach, and wonder how come he can't get them “up” for a key game. (Cincinnati last year, Detroit, this.)

A backup linebacker ripped our fans via twitter, and nothing came of it. Would have been a great week to send him packing. A fullback complains openly about getting more money. The owner obliges. Why? Who knows. Since when have you ever heard of a FULLBACK(!) bitching about his contract in the media, and actually succeeding in getting a raise?

This would be like a bullpen catcher winning in a contract holdout.

Detroit didn't just beat us. They DOMINATED us.

Kevin Smith ran with abandon on a defense that was pre-purchasing “Greatest of All Time” t-shirts this summer. Matt Stafford missed wildly at times, but seemed quite comfortable in the pocket from start to finish.

If not for a series of huge breaks, this game would have been a Lions blowout. Here, take a look ....

a. Campbell had back-to-back INT's that were dropped/missed in the 1st half.
b. Sack on 1st play - facemask penalty gives them a big gain.
c. A long pass to Megatron at the 1 was called back due to OPI. Marginal.
d. Campbell dribbles a ball on a botched snap, completes for 28 to Moss.
e. The Moss TD was pure broken coverage, nothing more.
f. Campbell dropped the ball a second time, and luckily fell on it.
g. Stafford missing wide open Bryant Johnson across the middle.
h. Carlos Rodgers gets away with a blatant arm bar, no call.

Yeah, sure. The P.I. on Horton was 50-50. The picked up flag on the Moss facemask was a robbery.

But add 'em up. We were lucky to even be in the game. Besides, only pathetic teams beg the refs for help again the Lions.

In reality, the players on this team just aren't that good. This much is becoming more evident with each game. Too many of them are also old, and at the end of their useful NFL lifecycle.

Clinton Portis is never going to be a dynamic back again.
The o-line has 3 veterans who have no more than 18 months left on them.
The 2nd round triplets are never going to amount to much.
Campbell is likely a career backup.

You can have the entire d-line, excepting Haynesworth on talent alone, not on his performance per dollar – which will never be re-couped fully by Snyder.

Daniels, Carter, Griffin, Golston, Montgomery, Wynn, Wilson....... whatever.

Take 'em all. They are just guys on a roster. And there's nobody behind them pushing for a job.

At one point, the Lions were a staggering 9-13 on 3rd down.

Try to get your head around that number!

The suspected problems with this team going into the year, are still there. Quarterback, offensive line, durability of star running back.

It's now the unknown liabilities that are cropping up too. Defense, a coach who has seemingly gotten worse, not better, and a corrosive locker-room dynamic.

We suck. And that's who we are. Time to get used to it, or go crazy trying to deny it.