QB JOEY HARRINGTON (87) - Agile and accurate but lacks the big arm
HB STEPHEN DAVIS (85) - Power and not all that much else
FB REUBEN DROUGHNS (65) - Picked off the scrapheap, has great speed, not much else
WR1 CHARLES ROGERS (95) - The sky is the limit for this fabulously gifted youngster
WR2 DENNIS NORTHCUTT (74) - Nimble, speedy, smurf-like
WR3 AZ-ZAHIR HAKIM (73) - The diminutive speedster will line up in the slot
TE FRANK WYCHECK (81) - Slow old veteran is still a solid receiver, retires soon
LT JEFF BACKUS (86) - Not dominating, but technically accomplished
LG SPENCER FOLAU (78) - Declining warhorse will be put out to graze soon
C DOMINIC RAIOLA (82) - Skilled without being overpowering
RG LEON SEARCY (77) - Ancient smashmouth mauler, will retire shortly
RT STOCKAR McDOUGLE (80) - Very strong, lot of potential, but still pretty green
LE MICHAEL STRAHAN (96) - Incredible pass-rushing talent, plays the run well too
RE ROBERT PORCHER (90) - Great strength and an accomplished pass-rusher
DT LUTHER ELLISS (91) - Solid, strong, run-stopper
DT SHAUN ROGERS (90) - Good agility and leaping skills
LOLB BOSS BAILEY (85) - Very raw but very fast with superlative acceleration
MLB EARL HOLMES (91) - Not the fastest, but a big hitter
ROLB SCOTT McKILLOP (78) - Young, fast, strong and mean, what's not to like?
CB1 CHARLES WOODSON (94) - At last, a true shutdown corner
CB2 DRE' BLY (84) - Accomplished cover guy
CB3 TERRY FAIR (75) - Speedy but not much else
FS RONNIE BRADFORD (81) - Has good speed, smart, retires after this year
SS DONOVAN DARIUS (94) - Distinguished veteran adds touch of class to the secondary
K SAM SWANK (85) - Big legged youngster walks the walk
P JOHN JETT (85) - Doesn't have the biggest leg, retires after this year
Although MATTHEW STAFFORD busted loose during the regular season, he's still too green to start in the playoffs. As a result JOEY HARRINGTON will start at QB.
Similarly, despite the promise of young JARRETT DILLARD at WR, we will go with the more experienced CHARLES ROGERS, DENNIS NORTHCUTT and AZ-ZAHIR HAKIM as our top 3 WRs.
Continuing this theme, fast but raw JOSH NORMAN sits behind veteran FRANK WYCHECK, who will retire after this season.
Also on the way out are elderly Gs LEON SEARCY and SPENCER FOLAU.
The identity of this team in this playoff run will be, by force of necessity, a smashmouth one. We will run hard with STEPHEN DAVIS behind our veteran Gs and hope HARRINGTON can occasionally flip it out to his speedy triplets for the big gain.
Our D continues to improve with the addition of CB CHARLES WOODSON and deadly young OLB SCOTT McKILLOP starts for the first time.
FS RONNIE BRADFORD retires after the playoffs and will be hoping to go out in style.
SAM SWANK also starts at K for the first time, while JOHN JETT gets one last go of it at P before draftee KEVIN HUBER takes over.
Talk about winning ugleeee. JOEY HARRINGTON threw 3 INTs (one of which was returned for a TD) but somewhat redeemed himself with 3 TDs too, completing 16 of 26 for 255 yards.
The LIONS came back from an early deficit to lead 28-13 but GROSSMAN brought CHICAGO all the way back to tie it at 28 as the LIONS retreated into prevent.
Fortunately the LIONS were able to prevail in OT.
STEPHEN DAVIS was relatively effective, in a low-grade, grind-it-out kind of way, rushing 22 times for 62 yards.
CHARLES ROGERS was the star with 5 catches for 118 yards and the TD.
MICHAEL STRAHAN had two sacks and EARL HOLMES had an INT.
REX GROSSMAN completed 16 of 25 for 182 yards, a TD and an INT.
The LIONS gave the GREATEST SHOW ON TURF a pretty hard time and came tantalisingly close to the upset but eventually fell just short. With a minute left, HARRINGTON steered DETROIT from its own 1 to midfield but couldn't get any further than that.
HARRINGTON completed 13 of 24 for 209 yards, a TD and an INT.
WARNER was held in check, completing 12 of 21 for 177 yards, a TD and an INT.
But FAULK ran wild, rushing 26 times for 138 yards and the score.
DAVIS carried 5 times for -6 yards in a dreadful performance. The LIONS insisted on tossing it to him on countless sweeps where the leaden-footed veteran was hammered for painful losses.
At least CHARLES ROGERS caught 6 for 113 yards and a score.
How do you bench a Pro Bowl quarterback for the playoffs? Especially after his backup fails to impress against the Bears?
Has anyone started firetorcida.com yet?
[insert smiley thing]
Tough, tough call, and believe me, as I watched Harrington's inept performance in the playoffs, I second-guessed that decision many times. But it basically boils down to the fact that Harrington was rated 87 over Stafford's 77 and should, at least in theory, still perform better. Also I wanted to protect my brilliant young star and not throw him to the "lions" in the playoffs - we were probably not going all the way anyway this year given the various elderly duffers we had to start.
Next year is going to be different - Stafford and Dillard will be unleashed (both of them will have considerably improved), and you will finally see the Silver Stretch we know and love!
Kerry Collins
John Jett
Az-Zahir Hakim
Kalimba Edwards
Chris Cash
Artose Pinner
Spencer Folau
Might be a shock that we don't re-sign COLLINS given our unlikely run to the Super Bowl under him in Year 2, but he is in serious decline and is not the future.
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