By Eric Edholm
Sept. 22, 2008

It’s fair to say that the Lions’ defense, which has allowed 113 points and is on pace to allow an NFL-record worst 603, is a major concern. But it’s not as if the offense is helping out much. Sure, the team has scored 59 points in three games, a modest but not offensive total, but the team’s slow starts have allowed opponents to build leads each week of 21-0, 21-0 and 28-6 in the three losses. And postgame comments from QB Jon Kitna and WR Roy Williams make it sound as if few players believe in the Lions’ new offense.

The PFW spin

First, take a look at what Kitna and Williams told the media after the game.

“You can’t compare our offense to [the 49ers’] offense,” Williams said. “They’ve got the mastermind [Mike Martz] calling their plays so you can’t compare their offense and our offense. That makes no sense.”

Sarcasm or seriousness? You decide. Now Kitna …

“Our philosophy is to play it close to the vest,” Kitna said, “and when you play close to the vest, you can’t afford mistakes and you can’t afford going down by 21 or 18 points We’re not built to come from behind anymore.

“… We’re not built to be successful there. That’s not our philosophy anymore. Our philosophy is to play it close to the vest. We don’t have all the combination routes anymore that [Martz] had. We don’t throw the ball down the field anymore. We’re built to run the ball and not to turn it over and have a high completion percentage. That’s not very effective when you’re down that many points.”

Kitna’s comments were more specific, but the fact that both men made comparisons — serious or accurate or not — to Martz, the former Lions coordinator, is a sign of distress. The key players are voicing their displeasure through the media leading up to a bye week, and that means it’s going to be on the table front and center — along with the story that Bill Ford Jr. said his father should fire GM Matt Millen — for almost the next two weeks.

The team’s thought process this offseason was that if it were more balanced, it could run the football early, start to soften up defenses and then attack with their best weapon — the passing game and their talented wide receivers. It hasn’t happened that way in any of the three games. The defense doesn’t allow the team to be conservative early in games, and as a result they are playing right into the opponents’ hands, who have looked prepared for what the Lions have thrown at them. By the time the Lions pass the ball, they are in such deep holes, they can’t get out.

In Week Five, when the Lions return from the bye to face the Bears, expect a different approach. The Bears rank fourth vs. the run (before the Jets-Chargers Monday nighter) and 28th in pass yards allowed and 27th in sacks. The Lions should come out with more pass plays to Williams and Calvin Johnson early in the game, hoping to score first and then control the action with the run game, which got a burst on Sunday from recently signed Rudi Johnson — but again, once it was too late.