“Meaningless” meaningless to Marinelli

By Os Davis  |   Wednesday, August 16, 2006  |  Comments( 0 )

Detroit Lions
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The Detroit Lions' 20-13 preseason win over the Denver Broncos may be trumpeted by some in the media as "meaningless," but don't bother telling Rod "Almighty" Marinelli that. In his first game as a head coach of what he hopes to be a revamped blue-and-silver squad, Marinelli paced the sidelines, unveiled his "Detroit Lions Football," watched the game pass in blur, felt pressure in the clutch, and ultimately was all smiles. The only thing missing was the Gatorade shower.

Meaningless? Hardly. "I love to win," stated the typically eminently unquotable head coach, and win his boys did.

Though hardly stellar in performance, the psychological difference in these Lions was readily made apparent from the go. Marinelli was able to praise their focus. After watching an early 10-0 second-quarter lead become a third-quarter 13-10 deficit, which no doubt had some Motor City faithful uttering phrasing beginning with "Same old" and ending a bit more colorfully, the Lions managed to piece together a pair of drives and to do enough to stifle the Broncos' last fourth-quarter gasp. "I like pressure," said Marinelli.

What else did Marinelli like? Well, he had to like his quarterback performance. All three new Lions - Jon Kitna, Josh McCown and Dan Orlovsky - got into the game, and all led scoring drives. Altogether, the trio went 12-of-20 for 129 yards (low, low numbers to be sure), but despite high-flying offensive coordinator Mike Martz, this team is certainly going to put defense first. More meaningful here is the just one sack allowed by the line, and that happened on the first drive.

And speaking of that defense, Marinelli's got to have liked the three forced fumbles and three sacks. Again, though, most impressive off the ball were the intangibles. Despite Denver's nearly 60 percent possession time, the Lions allowed just one touchdown and held the Broncos scoreless in the red zone on four attempts. With time running out and Denver with the ball, the D managed to hold the line. Just a last-ditch third-string drive in another soon-forgotten August game? Nah. This was the "pressure" that Marinelli "likes." And the Lions - refreshingly - came through.

In describing his lust for the big W, Marinelli stated in the post-game wrap that "if we're playing marbles, I'm going to get you." While reportedly no marbles tournaments are in Marinelli's future, Detroit fans have must be happy that their new coach at least seems to have all of his.

A meaningless game? Perhaps in the record books, but don't share this opinion with Detroit fans who continue to see new light at the end of a 50-year tunnel.

Next up for Marinelli's militia: The Oakland Raiders, undefeated in the preseason. Think Marinelli considers this one meaningless?

Find meaning in the 2006 Detroit Lions at Realfootball365.com.
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About Os Davis

Os Davis has taken a twisted route to get to RealFootball365.com in his nearly 17 years in professional writing, working in any number of capacities in the sportswriting, news reporting and film criticism worlds. In print media, Os has served as editor at a few publications, including Albuquerque's...
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