DETROIT (AP) - It took the offense almost three quarters to get rolling, but the Lions showed some spark in the second half and cruised to a 26-0 victory against Nobody this afternoon at Ford Field.
Not wanting to waste a bye week, Lions head coach Steve Mariucci set up a scrimmage against Nobody. Expecting the Lions to throw the ball around at will and run up the score, Mariucci was surprised that the Lions weren't able to punch it in the end zone in the first half.
"We did get the ball into the red zone a couple times in the first half. But very disappointed we couldn't punch it in with no defenders out there."
Tight end Marcus Pollard, one of the few bright spots for the Lions this season, lit into the Lions at halftime. "Do you guys realize there's NOBODY out there? Kevin Jones, why do you keep falling down after two yards? And Joey got sacked three times for christs sakes!" His tirade seemed to spark the Lions, who took the opening drive 80 yards on 12 plays and scored the first touchdown of the game on a 6 yard run from Kevin Jones. The key play on the drive was a 19 yard pass to Mike Williams on third-and-16.
"At first I didn't believe him; but he was right... there really wasn't anyone on the field," said an exhausted Kevin Jones after the game. "I was so used to diving to the ground rather than taking on a defender that I hadn't realized there was no defense on the field."
The offense was a little disappointed that they didn't get to line up against an opposing defense.
"We spent all work working on our hitting and tackling drills to be prepared when Joey throws all those interceptions. To not get to hit an opposing defensive back was a little disappointing," whined Lions' offensive tackle Jeff Backus.
"Good news is that Joey didn't give up any touchdowns this week, so that's a positive," said Mariucci. "We'll see whether he can carry that momentum next week against Tampa Bay. Probably not, but I'm stuck with him since Matt Millen wasn't bright enough to pick up a decent quarterback in the off-season."
On the down side, wide receiver Charles Rogers broke his left collarbone again after tripping over the 35 yard line in the fourth quarter. He'll be out the rest of the season.
In the meantime, defensive coordinator Dick Jauron used the opportunity to give his defensive unit a workout against the Southwest Detroit Under 14 All-Stars.
"While not in the same league as the NFL, clearly these 13 year olds give us a step up in competition from what we usually face during the week. We had a good workout and expect to be better prepared for Tampa Bay than if we had faced off against the Lions' offense."
The Lions face Tampa Bay next week where the Bucs are currently a 532 point favorite.
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ALLEN PARK -- Mariucci, at his post-game press conference seen here locally, reminded the "new press", as he refers to bloggers, to remember the up side of yesterday's victory. "We had no film and that made it difficult to prepare. And we held back on offense so we didn't reveal anything to our future opponents." As evidence he pointed to the stat sheet that showed OT Jeff Backus had zero holding calls.
WR Mike Williams commented later that yesterday was nothing new for him; he thinks he worked out against most of them last year to prepare for the rigors of the NFL this year.
And Matt Millen, whom we reached in Pennsylvania, repeated his statement issued after this year's draft, "Nobody wants to play the Lions now!"
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