Jon Kitna to Start Against Chicago?

by Sean Yuille on Sep 25, 2008 10:39 AM EDT in News Comment 6 comments

The Jon Kitna era isn't over yet, according to Tom Kowalski. Kitna reportedly will start at quarterback for the Lions in their next game (vs. Chicago on October 5). This move comes despite the fact that Kitna hasn't been playing all that well and people want Drew Stanton to play to build for the future.

Kowalski did go on to say that he thinks the Kitna era could come to an end if the Lions pile up some losses in their next three games. If that's the case, then Stanton likely would step in as the starter as there is no point to continue on with Kitna. The rest of the season would be meaningless anyways, so at that point it would be dumb not to start Stanton.

The Lions will start Kitna against the Bears and then also have him start the next two road games against Minnesota and Houston. By that time, Stanton should be ready to take the field -- at home -- against Washington. That game will start a stretch where the Lions play five of their next seven games at home, giving Stanton a better comfort level.

At this moment, that's how I see this thing playing out. A lot of things can happen in the next three games, but the Lions need to find out what they've got in Stanton and starting him against the Redskins would put him in the best possible position to be successful.

If the Lions lose again against Chicago and Kitna doesn't play well, I do wish that Stanton would start in the very next game. However, I do understand that they've got to be smart with Stanton and not rush him back from his thumb injury or set him up to fail. He may fail anyways, but putting him in a bad situation such as a road game probably wouldn't be the greatest idea.

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In with the new...

The problem in Detroit is that just getting rid of Matt Millen isn’t going to immediately effect our performance this season. I hate to say it friends, but we are still in for a rocky and hurtful year with the Lions. I honestly believe we are in for a 1 maybe 2 win season if we get lucky and actually win at all. The good thing is that finally we have something positive to look forward to in the coming years. That is assuming that they hire the right GM to take over the team.

On that note, I think hiring the right GM first requires a change of ownership. Sr needs to turn the team over to his son. I honestly believe that Sr has his heart in the right place, but I just think that Jr. knows more about the league and personnel than his father does. To make the right decision in regards to a GM, we first need to have the right owner making that decision. That or Sr just needs to allow his son to make all farther decisions in regards to the team.

I also believe that when the new GM is hired, we need to make several changes in the coaching staff. Matt Millen wasn’t the only one to blame for our poor performance this year. Rod Marinelli has had 3 years to work on this defense. He even pulled “his players” this year and said he was very happy with the personnel. However, we have seen the defense underperform in all 3 games so far this season. I don’t know if he should leave the team altogether, but I don’t think he is good as a head coach in this league. For the first time in a while, we are seriously under-performing on both sides of the ball.

That being said. I agree with the idea of waiting to make sure stanton is fully ready to go and giving him the best opportunity to show us what he is capable of. This year is already over in truth, and we need to know if we need to draft a QB. If we put him in too early and he fails we may get rid of him prematurely. If we put him in too early he may also get re-injured and we won’t get to see what he can really do. So I like this decision.

I am really looking forward to seeing how Rudi, Stanton, and Smith pan out over the rest of the season and to see what kind of changes our coaching staff can make without Millen breathing down their necks. I am not however very impressed with the coaching staff as a whole and hope to see some changes or turnover in the offseason.

Sorry for the long post just getting my thoughts out of my head. No lions fans in my work. =(

by MatthewDC on Sep 25, 2008 11:18 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs

Stanton is still working on his mechanics...

No way is he ready to start soon…

by Schuxu on Sep 25, 2008 3:29 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

Stanton a starter?

I don’t think Drew Stanton is going to do any better than Jon Kitna right now. He’s still a very young QB with almost no experience in the NFL. Jon Kitna proved last year he can win games for this team. I don’t think he’s the problem. I think it’s the team around him.

Rondogg
www.nflfanswhocare.com

by rondogg on Sep 26, 2008 10:45 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs

The Doctor will see you now...

Drew Stanton can’t ever stay healthy. Everytime he goes into the game he gets hurt. The last 2 years in pre-season he got hurt. I dont care how good he is, QB’s who can’t stay healthy….can’t play in the NFL

by mab23 on Sep 29, 2008 3:41 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

The problem with the Lions is....

….that they live in Detroit. Who in the hell wants to relocate to Detroit? Not free agents. Not good coaches. Anyway, I digress on that point. What I really wanted to say was GO BEARS!!!! I love to watch the bumbling Lions. What a joke of a frachise. You will lose this weekend. And lose heartily. Losers.

by NittyGritty34 on Sep 30, 2008 4:49 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs