Cardinals face upstart but humble Lions
November 11, 2007, 9:26 a.m.
KENT SOMERS
The Arizona Republic
Rarely has anyone in the NFL looked to the Lions for inspiration or for a blueprint on how to build a winning team. They haven't won an NFL title since Gunsmoke topped the television ratings, and they have averaged four wins a year over the past six seasons.
The Cardinals have been the Lions' companion on the road to futility. They haven't won an NFL title since 1947, 10 years earlier than the Lions' last title. And they've averaged just more than five victories a season over the past six years.
So it seems fitting that today's game between the two will be their eighth meeting in nine years, thanks mostly to a scheduling plan that gives the downtrodden a chance.
Through the first half of this season, however, the teams have gone their separate ways. The Lions are 6-2 and playing with a confidence that belies their past. They're winning close games - as opposed to last year, when they went 3-13 thanks in large part to fourth-quarter failures.
The Cardinals, meanwhile, have lost three straight to drop to 3-5 and are coming off their worst performance of the season, a 17-10 loss to Tampa Bay last Sunday.
They look at the Lions and take heart that a turnaround is possible.
"If we had had a couple of plays go the right way, and our record was a little different, then it would be a similar situation," Cardinals coach Ken Whisenhunt said. "They've done it. They've made the plays and, rightfully so, they're viewed as a team that's playing well."
The Lions' turnaround began after the 2005 season when they hired Rod Marinelli, a career defensive-line coach who wasn't viewed by many as head-coaching material. Upon arrival, he began talking about values that seemed clichéd or corny: poise over panic, taking one snap at a time, staying humble.
But his players are buying it. Cardinals safety Terrence Holt played for Marinelli last year in Detroit, and he could see the seeds of change being planted in the organization.
"It's easy for me to sit here and say I saw it coming," Holt said. "But I know how those guys worked; I know the mentality that he (Marinelli) wants to establish there in that town and that city. He wants that team to mimic the attitude of that city: a blue-collar city that's going to come to work every day."
Coaches know their message is getting through when players begin voicing it in interviews. Talking to the Lions' players is like talking to Marinelli. In a conference call with Arizona reporters, quarterback Jon Kitna was asked about dealing with the team's recent success.
"We need to be humble and continue to go about our business and playing like he (Marinelli) says, one snap at a time."
A few minutes later, on a separate call, Marinelli was asked the same question and said there are two kinds of people in the NFL: "One who is humble and the other who's about to become humbled."
Unlike the Cardinals, the Lions have maintained a strong fan base through their troubles. Attendance remained high, but the boos were loud, as were the complaints about team President Matt Millen's personnel decisions.
The fans' attitudes have changed now, although Marinelli said he has no idea about things like that.
"I don't see anything," he said. "I just sit here in this dark room all the time. I don't even know what's going on, to be honest with you."
Kitna has been through this before. He was in Cincinnati when Marvin Lewis arrived as head coach and took a perennial loser to the playoffs. There are similarities in the situations, he said.
"That's the thing that I see, the commitment from ownership and management to say, 'This is our guy and we're going to back him,' " Kitna said. "When Marvin came to Cincinnati he called the shots, and what he said went. And same thing is here with Coach Marinelli. If he wants something done, they're going to get it done. If there's a player who doesn't deserve to play, he's not going to play regardless of what management says."
No one in management complained, for instance, when Marinelli got rid of receiver Mike Williams, a first-round pick who was lazy and out of shape. Marinelli preaches constantly about needing 53 players to work hard and contribute. That doesn't come with exemptions for first-round picks or guys making big money.
"It seems funny, but not often does (a coach) have the power to say, 'We're going to sit him down. We don't care,' " Holt said. "Management sometimes can influence decisions."
Marinelli is quick to dismiss the notion that the Lions have arrived and know all the answers. That's a wise move given the difficulty of the second half of the season, which includes games against the Giants (6-2), Cowboys (7-1) and two against the Packers (7-1).
"In this game of football, it's about being humble," he said. "If you think you've arrived, somebody's going to humble you big time in this league. You're a game away from being humbled. So hopefully we'll understand that and just keep working."
