Barely adequate Show On Turf bolstered by Hakim

By Os Davis  |   Thursday, September 14, 2006  |  Comments( 2 )

Detroit Lions
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Why didn't Mike Martz and the Detroit Lions' brain trust think of this sooner? Poor Jon Kitna, trying to run Martz' high-energy offensive scheme with an accent on the pass, was left to find targets from among one of the league's least inspiring receiving corps in Week 1.

With the signing of Az-Zahir Hakim, an old favorite of both Martz and the Lions, the silver-and-blue may now possess a viable threat.

Hakim turned in three decent years on Martz' mighty St. Louis Rams teams. In his first full season in 1999, Hakim bagged eight TDs on just 36 catches and a fat 18.8 yards per reception.

But Hakim never became an oft-used threat, usually playing in the shadows of perpetual Pro Bowlers Torry Holt and Isaac Bruce. Hakim became the short threat, his stats dwindling over the next two seasons to just 9.6 yards per catch. No doubt seeking to be 'The Man,' Hakim filed for free agency and landed with the Lions.

In 2003, Hakim caught 49 passes for 449 yards, enough to lead Detroit. Ditto his team-high four TDs. Of course, the Joey Harrington-led team ranked 32nd in passing yardage in that memorable year. The following year, Hakim ran up 17.2 yards per reception. Playing for the similarly low-watt New Orleans Saints last year and once again the No. 3 receiver, Hakim had 34 receptions for 489 yards.

What does this signing mean for Az-Zahir and the Lions? Here's one good bet: Hakim will be the No. 1 option for Kitna by Week 3 and should be seeing a good 50 to 60 receptions this year. Whether or not he can actually produce the numbers required to get this team a bit more than six points a game is anyone's guess.

Hakim's new partner, Roy Williams, meanwhile, is guessing the Lions will beat the Chicago Bears on Sunday. Though Williams' lines to the media have run everywhere, here's a choice bit one more time. After emphatically guaranteeing a Detroit win in Chicago against one the baddest defenses in the NFL, Williams explained with "...when we play the way we are supposed to play, and there's no reason we shouldn't, there's no defense in the league that can stop us."

Wait a minute. Is Williams not paying attention? Perhaps he should look at the boxscore again. Williams does realize that the Lions lost to the NFC champions due to managing 262 total yards on the offense, doesn't he? And yes, perhaps it was sick how close the Lions were to scoring 14 points. (There's no way Williams said his guys could have scored 40 - the entire press corps must have heard him wrong.) Success to the tune of 5-for-14 on third down isn't going to win many ballgames, however.

Williams' brashness and a likely 0-2 start aside, the Lions will be a team to be reckoned with by season's end. After all, with the signing of Hakim, the silver-and-Honolulu blue just got better.

Call it "The Halfway Decent Show on Turf."

Watch Az-Zahir Hakim's effect on the 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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