Detroit Lions... Your Decade is Over

This season, whenever I believe a team is eliminated from the playoffs, thus making their season (and decade) over, I will write their obituary.

Today I present to you the Detroit Lions of the 00's.

There was a lot of hope for the Lions in 2000, coming off an 8-8 season in 1999 which landed the team a spot in the 1999 NFC playoffs. The 2000 season for the Detroit Lions was supposed to be a breakout year. Heading into the season there was a lot of chatter about Charlie Batch developing his game as the starting QB, and the defense lead by Stephen Boyd, Robert Porcher, Luther Elliss, and the young Terry Fair developing into an elite group.

The Lions got off to the right start in 2000, starting the season 5-2, including a win over Tampa Bay, making a return to the playoffs seem likely, however, back to back losses to AFC playoff teams Indianapolis and Miami sent the Lions to 5-4, and back to the middle of the pack in the NFC. The Lions then strung together a solid three game winning streak to improve their record to 8-4 before losings 3 of their final four games to finish with a 9-7 record, and watching the playoffs from home.

Heading into the 2001 season, Lions fans, newly appointed CEO/GM Matt Millen, and head coach Marty Mornhinweg were skeptical that Charlie Batch would ever develop into a legitimate starter at the NFL level. The team under Millen made the moves to draft athletic Rutgers QB Mike McMahon and sign 34 year old journeyman QB Ty Detmer. With that quarterback depth the Lions began the season 0-12, hauntingly foreshadowing a theme for their decade. The team would finish with an abominable 2-12 record, but thanks to the expansion Houston Texans would end up with the third overall draft pick in the next years draft.

The Lions used that third overall draft pick to draft Oregon QB Joey Harrington, a player they thought would immediate develop and help turn the Lions around. Entering the 2002 season, the Lions had low expectations. Harrington started 12 games and put up okay rookie numbers, but a lack of a go to receiver left Millen and others to believe there was a gaping hole in the teams structure. Following a 3-13 season, the team would land the second overall draft pick.

And the 2003 NFL Draft would mark the beginning of Matt Millen's love affair with the first round Wide Receiver, when he took Charles Rogers out of Michigan St #2 overall. The team would also fire Mornhinweg and replace him with successful San Francisco head coach Steve Mariucci.

Unfortunately for the Lions, 2003 was a bigger mess than 2002. Though the team improved to 5-11, Joey Harrington put up awful numbers, Charles Rogers was injured for the season in week 5, and the highlight of the season was a Thanksgiving Day victory over the Green Bay Packers. Yet again the Lions would earn themselves a top 10 pick.

The 2004 draft was loaded with top talent, and heading into the draft it only made sense that the Lions would take either LB Jonathan Vilma or WR Roy Williams; Millen went with Williams, and the Lions were shaping up to develop into a high octane offense.

Unfortunately for the Lions, Charles Rogers would miss all of 2004, the defense didn't get much better, Joey Harrington made little progression in yet another full season, and the team went 6-10.

An optimistic person would say that since 2001 the Lions improved every year to 2004. A pessimist would say that things should've turned around by this point and 6-10 is still bad. That being said Mariucci and the Lions entered 2005 with above average expectations for the for the first time since 2000. The team would use it's #10 overall pick on the questionable wide receiver Mike Williams out of USC. Heading into the draft Williams had weight, work ethic, and attitude issues. The Lions also had serious defensive issues; the next two picks in the draft were DeMarcus Ware and Shawne Merriman, two players who would challenge the league sack record in years to come.

Mike Williams career and the 2005 Lions season were dead on arrival. In an attempt to save his job, Mariucci benched Joey Harrington in favor of Jeff Garcia. Then, in an attempt to save his own job, Matt Millen sent Mariucci packing midway through the season. The team would finish 5-11, Millen's draft picks Joey Harrington, Charles Rogers, and Mike Williams were deemed useless, and for the fifth straight year, Millen would have the luxury of drafting in the top 10.

In the 2006 draft Millen finally went defense and for the first time Millen had a hit. Ernie Sims out of Florida State brought the right attitude and energy to a bad defense. But journeyman QB Jon Kitna and the 2006 Lions would win only 3 games. Somehow thanks to the success of Ernie Sims in his rookie season, and the development of Roy Williams into a Pro Bowl receiver, Millen managed to keep his job.

In 2007, the Lions were back to the #2 pick. With his sixth top 10 pick in as many years, Millen selected Calvin Johnson, a wide receiver out of Georgia Tech. Johnson would have an immediate impact, and the Lions would start the 2007 season hot.

Heading into a week 10 matchup at the lowly Arizona Cardinals, the 2007 Lions were 6-2. Kitna guaranteed 10 wins and playoffs. Millen was all of a sudden looking like an okay GM, and second year head coach Rod Marinelli was getting ready to compete with Green Bay for the division. Unfortunately for the Lions, their next eight games featured five contests with teams that would end up in the playoffs, including four against teams that would play in their conference championship game. The Lions would win only one of their final eight, and yet again the team would fail to obtain a winning record.

But Lions fans had hopes that 2008 would be better. Kitna had a solid 2007, and for the first time in a long time the Lions had a QB they trusted in. The duo of Calvin Johnson and Roy Williams looked like one of the best in the league, and the team used a third round draft pick to add RB Kevin Smith out of UCF, a RB they expected to immediately make an impact.

Things didn't work out too well for the 2008 Lions. Kitna got hurt early. After an 0-3 start, Millen was fired. The team would eventually trade Roy Williams to the Cowboys in the best management move the team made all decade.

Calvin Johnson would be the lone bright spot in an 0-16 season for the Lions. The franchise, it's fans, and it's players would end the season in embarrassment, becoming the only team to ever finish a season 0-16.

Immediately after the 2008 season the Lions cleared house. Marinelli was fired and Jim Schwartz was named head coach. The team also used it's #1 overall draft pick to take Matthew Stafford, a quarterback out of Georgia.

And in week 3 of the NFL season, Stafford handed the city of Detroit some home when he lead the Lions to their first win since the winter of 2007. The win would come against the Redskins, and for the first time since 1999 things were seriously optimistic in Lions.

No one expected the Lions to be a contender in 2009, so it's no surprise they're being buried before week 6. They're only 1-4 but they're already the leagues most improved team. As opposed to some of the leagues other really bad teams, Lions fans have some hope for the 2010's. Matthew Stafford, Calvin Johnson, Kevin Smith, Ernie Sims, Brandon Pettigrew, Louis Delmas, Julian Peterson, and DeAndre Levy give this team a reason to be optimistic about it's future.

But when Lion's fans look back on the 00's they'll be forced to recall some of the worst nightmares in sports history. A decade void of a playoff appearance and only one winning season. The decade that is sure to be known as the Matt Millen era; fully equipped with names like Mike Williams, Charles Rogers, Joey Harrington, and Dan Orlovsky to make fans cringe.

Hopefully for Lions the 2010's bring greener Pasteur's, because it'll be hard to get worse than the 00's.

MVP of the Decade: Shaun Rogers

Notable Players: Shaun Rogers, Roy Williams, Calvin Johnson, Jason Hanson, Jon Kitna, Ernie Sims, Stephen Boyd, Robert Porcher, Dre' Bly, Cory Schlesinger, Eddie Drummond, James Stewart, Jeff Backus, Matthew Stafford

Throwback Jersey That Will Be Cool in 15 years: 2007 Calvin Johnson

Weekly Top 10: Top 10 #1 Picks of the Decade

Anyone who knows me knows that I love Top 10's, Top 5's, Top anything countdowns. I love ranking things. My girlfriend thinks it's a sign of a rare but serious brain condition.

I think it's because I have too much free time.

Either way, every Saturday I'm going to present a new weekly countdown. This week I'm going to be breaking down the top #1 overall picks in the NFL draft from 00-09. Now I know time hasn't given us enough time to project how good the #1 overall picks from 06-09, or even 05, are going to be, but I think we can kinda tell.

And either way, this is an easy countdown to break into for everyone.

10. 2005 Alex Smith, Quarterback Utah - San Francisco 49ers: Drafted in 2005 to a lot of speculation, Smith has done nothing but live up to every ounce of that speculation. Given every chance to take the starting Quarterback job, Smith has never capitalized; never failing to fail. Though it's still early in Smith's career, at this point he's without a doubt the worst #1 overall draft pick of the decade based on the lone fact that his career has thus far amounted to nothing. On the bright side the '9ers landed Running back Frank Gore in the 3rd round.

09. 2000 Courtney Brown, Defensive End Penn State - Cleveland Browns: Brown had a productive rookie campaign, but injuries slowed him down after that. He was a solid defensive end in the NFL when healthy, helping the Browns in their most successful season (2002), and the Denver Broncos in their best season of the decade (2005). He retired from the NFL in 2006 to absolutely no fanfare, and is likely to be remembered as nothing more than an NFL Draft Trivial Pursuit question.

08. 2002 David Carr, Quarterback Fresno State - Houston Texans: I can hear your sighs. Of all ten players on this list, I feel like this was the guy most people wanted to see succeed. He was fun to watch, had a nice arm, decent mobility, and reminded us of the great Quarterbacks of the 1990's, something that the NFL was desperate for in 2002. An awful offensive line, a franchise with seemingly no direction at the time, and a division that featured three solid pass rushes lead to Carr becoming the most sacked QB in the league, and left him permanently scarred. A failed one year stint in Carolina where he was eventually replaced by a 43 year old Vinny Testaverde (1987's #1 overall pick), lead to Carr backing up Eli Manning (2004's #1 overall pick) in New York, where he still resides. Whether or not Carr will ever get or earn another shot to start in the NFL remains to be seen, but he'll always have a soft spot in hearts, because we know in a better situation he would've been good. Had the Texans entered the league the year before Carr would've been drafted by the Panthers who at the time were proud to have Chris Weinke on their roster. In 2003 a no named QB known as Jake Delhomme lead the Panthers to the Super Bowl... Oh what could have been.

07. 2007 JaMarcus Russell, Quarterback LSU - Oakland Raiders: In a couple of years Russell can easily be sitting at #10, but for now I still think he's got a chance. Sure his work ethic has been called abysmal, his weight is a top tier joke amongst fans, teammates, and peers, and so far this season he's made about one good play. But let's give Russell a break, he got drafted by the Raiders. This is the same offense that made Randy Moss look like Craphonso Thorpe the year before Russell was drafted. We've seen signs of Russell being good; not great, but good. He's still young, and the Raiders have some pieces in tact. We'll know more about where he is in two years.

06. 2009 Matthew Stafford, Quarterback Georgia - Detroit Lions: I guess this is going out on a limb a little bit, but heck, in his rookie year he already looks better than half the QB's in the league. Perhaps his even greater achievement is getting the Lions their first win since 2007. If he can stay healthy, Stafford will be a legitimate NFL quarterback, and he'll help the Lions contend year in and year out. In a division that is shaping up to have some adequate quarterbacking for the next four to five years, Stafford will be the flagship signal caller. Maybe he'll be another Joey Harrington, but I think he'll fall more along the lines of a much cooler Jay Cutler.

05. 2003 Carson Palmer, Quarterback USC - Cincinnati Bengals: In 2005 I would have said Palmer was going to be the #1 of the decade. Things were looking great for Carson. He was leading the Bengals to a division title, he had a solid offense around him, a seemingly brilliant head coach, and for the first time since Boomer Esiason (stint one) the Bengals had a quarterback whose name wasn't immediately followed by laughter (sorry Jeff Blake... I always drafted you in Quarterback Club 1998 for N64). Unfortunately for Palmer that 2005 season ended in the operating table for Palmer and a knee injury was later fallowed by good numbers but few wins in 06, and 07, and an elbow injury in 08. 09 has been a sweeter year for Palmer, and he has top level QB talent. This is the seventh year of his career though and he's yet to get past the first round of the playoffs. Though it may not be his fault entirely, it's time for Palmer to start making dents outside of Fantasy Football.

04. 2001 Michael Vick, Quarterback Virginia Tech - Atlanta Falcons: Before he went to prison in 2007, Vick's career was already under scrutiny and was seemingly on the decline. That being said, outside of Eli Manning, Vick went deeper in the playoffs than all of the other QB's taken in the first round this decade, and won more playoff games than all of them combined (then again so has every Quarterback who's ever won a playoff game). In 04 Vick came a win away from the Super Bowl, and holds the record for most yards rushing in a single season for a QB. Overall Vick's career in Atlanta has to be considered above average, and given the 07 and 08 seasons to develop, it's not absurd to suggest that Vick may have developed even further as a QB. At this point in time though, it's hard to see Vick ever returning to the explosive player he was from 2002 to 2006, but NFL history will one day write that there was a time period where Michael Vick was the most feared player in the NFL.

03. 2008 Jake Long, Offensive Tackle Michigan - Miami Dolphins: It's been barely over a season but Long has already made his impact. He's a solid Left Tackle, and in 08 he helped the Dolphins establish a solid running game, and helped Chad Pennington finish as runner up in MVP balloting. A lot of GM's will say that the left tackle is the most important position in football (right tackle if your QB is a lefty) and one season into his career, Long has already established himself as a top shelf left tackle, making the Pro Bowl in his rookie year. If he stays healthy, Long will likely find himself in a lot of Pro Bowls, as he follows in the footsteps of Orlando Pace as OT's taken #1 overall.

02. 2006 Mario Williams, Defensive End NC State - Houston Texans: When the Texans announced before the draft that they were going to take DE Mario Williams #1 overall in a draft that included Vince Young, Reggie Bush, Matt Leinart, and A.J Hawk, the average football fan let out a resounding "do the Texans ever want to get good?" As the season started the drafting of Williams looked even worse as Dominick Davis got hurt before the season started, David Carr... well he is the #8 player on this list so I guess that's all I need to say, and the Williams started the season slow, never really picking up his pace. That same season Reggie Bush helped the Saints to the NFC Championship game, Vince Young won Rookie of the Year, and Matt Leinart showed signs of brilliance. Since then, Bush, Young, Leinart, and Hawk have played average to below average football at the pro level, while Williams has picked up 26 sacks, 6 forced fumbles, and over 100 tackles. He's been a Pro Bowler, a first team All-Pro, and has helped the Texans defense develop into one of the most respectable defensive units in the league.

01. 2004 Eli Manning, Quarterback Ole Miss - San Diego Chargers: Where do we begin? We all know about the trade to the Giants. We all know about the Super Bowl MVP where he outperformed Tom Brady; We know about "the Catch pt 2" We know about "the touchdown." But anyone who has watched the NFL since 2005 knows there is a lot more to Eli than those two plays. It seems like week in and week out, Eli does what he has to do just win games. He's become the unsung king of the two minute drill, and without a doubt he's evolved from punchline to elite QB. In 2004 it looked like the Chargers were going to get the better end of the deal... at least until Nate Kaeding played the Jets, but in 2005 when the Chargers drafted Shawne Merriman with a pick from the Giants, and in 2006 when Merriman and Philip Rivers who the Chargers got in the Eli trade, lead the Chargers to a 14-2 record, it looked like a "lights out" trade for the Chargers (awful pun... I hope you cringed). Since Ellis Hobbs and company did lights out in the 2006 AFC Division playoffs in San Diego, the trade has turned face. Merriman has thus far fallen off, Nate Kaeding, though good, is still just a kicker, and it's hard to argue Rivers case versus Eli (sounds like a great post to come).

Needless to say, Eli has handled the pressure of New York better than anyone ever has. Eli has kept a cool head, never missed the playoffs, and has yet to miss a start since taking over from Kurt Warner in 04. All things considered it's hard to imagine Philip Rivers keeping as cool of a head as Eli in the city that has made a living hell out of the lives of Alex Rodriguez, Brett Favre, Wayne Gretzky, and Patrick Ewing.

So there you have it. 10 years of number one picks, and Eli Manning pans out (thus far) as the best. How many of these guys will be enshrined in Canton? Will any of them? Usually it's between two to three players, which seems about right for this decade.