Joey Harrington, QB.

It was one of the most intriguing offensive performances ever put on by a Detroit Lions Quarterback. It was one for the ages, filled with a lot of passing, a lot of running, and a lot of the ground. The ground?

Joey Harrington was 5 for 22, with 47 yards, zero touchdowns, and a 39.6 rating on the way to a 16-13 loss to the Green Bay Packers. Harrington continued his high passes, late passes, and passes into high coverage areas. It was so awful, it was intriguing. At one point my wife asked if she could watch something else. I snapped out of control, “No!” I could not help but watch intensely while I waited to see what blunder would come next. Nothing would get in the way. I kept asking myself, “What is wrong with Joey?”

Maybe the weather had something to do with it? What do you think? Did the weather affect you, Mr. Harrington? “It affected everybody out there, just look at that last ball to Roy. He turned the defensive back around, he ran a great route out there and he was running to catch it in stride and then it kind of stopped. It was something that everybody had to deal with. It was definitely the most difficult wind conditions that I have played in, but we were all out there.”

I don’t think so.

This game marks one of many games where the Lions looked as if they could make it into the end zone in the first half, but fizzled in the second. “We haven’t scored an offensive touchdown in the second half the last five weeks, “, said WR Roy Williams. “We just aren’t effective, it makes no sense.”

It makes perfect sense to me. There are four things I see wrong with the passing of Joey Harrington. They include accuracy, height, authority, and vision.

Harrington lacks accuracy in his passes. He often throws the ball behind his receivers or completely off their mark completely. Until he learns how to throw the ball in their path, he will continue to struggle.

The passes that are accurate are usually one or two feet above the receiver’s head. This puts pressure on the receivers to continually jump in the air, and have to fight a defender off to catch the ball. In some cases, they have to stop their route, jump, and bring the ball down before continuing towards the end zone.

In the rare case that Joey manages to hit his receivers properly, he often lacks authority (power). This lack of power gives the defense plenty of time to intercept, or block, his passes.

That brings me to his lack of vision. Why is he always passing to only one person most of the game, even if they are in high coverage? He simply lacks the vision to see the entire field. Joey must overcome this lack of vision, and start spreading the ball around the field to different receivers.

Little can be done about the offense at this point. The Lions are now 5-8, and can only hope to win one or two more games. They will not make the playoffs. Is it time to bring in McMahon? I don’t think that’s the answer either.

The off-season is their only hope. Somehow, Matt Millen must find the courage, common sense, and person to replace Joey Harrington. There are candidates out there such as Jon Kitna, Kurt Warner, and possibly Drew Brees. Brees would be the obvious best candidate for the job; however, the Chargers are talking franchise tag for him.

I think if it were up to me, and I couldn’t have Brees, I would bring in Jon Kitna. Kitna is currently familiar with a Bengals’ offensive system that resembles the Lions’ west coast system. Kitna, at worst, could either be a decent starter or a great motivational figure for Joey Harrington. Some speculate that Joey is unchallenged, and could use a veteran around to push him to the next level.

I’m not yet convinced that Joey, with our without a veteran challenger, can be a good starting QB in the NFL. I think he lacks confidence, accuracy, the ability to see the field, and mobility. Replacing Harrington would seem to be the most logical move to fix the offense for next season. Keeping him is not benefiting the Lions.

Take the risk, cut him loose, and start over.

Pistons hit the skids
The Detroit Pistons hit the skids this weekend. Detroit hosted the Atlanta Hawks on Friday, losing 88-72. Detroit shot just 30% while the Hawks shot 55%.

Saturday night in Memphis, the Pistons continued to struggle. They shot just 35%, and fell 72-68 to the Grizzlies.

It is possible the Pistons miss the bench scoring from Corliss Williamson and Mike James. It is also possible that they need a healthy Antonio McDyess back on the bench, and a little time to work Carlos Delfino back in, who just returned from the injured list, to regain the bench scoring depth.

We’ll find out Wednesday when they travel to New York to face the Knicks.

-Dan Joseph