However, it was not his fault that he was handed a position where he was far unqualified for at the time he was hired. It was also not his fault that the Lions had absolute bupkis for talent when he was hired. Yes, he has certainly had a hand in the Lions dismal record since his hiring, but there are many other factors that go into their abysmal existence.

As Mark said, once the Lions ownership likes a member of their administration, they become fixated on them. What has Tom Lewand done to deserve to a front office position involving player personnel going on 12 years? Why the shoot does Bill Ford, Jr. still have any hand in the football decisions? The only answer to both of those questions is because Bill Ford, Sr. is the Lions owner.

For sure the Marty Thingamajig hiring turned out poorly. He falls into the classic case of a guy who makes a much better coordinator than a head coach. But, even so, he was a stepping stone for Millen’s guy anyway – Steve Mariucci. Now, raise your hand if you TOTALLY disagreed with the Mariucci hiring. Be honest. Yes, you could say he was overrated, but at the time, there was no more qualified, experience head coaching candidate out there. We all know how that tenure failed, but hindsight is 20/20. I don’t know if I would believe anyone on this board if they say they thought it was a terrible hiring when it happened. So, how much can you really fault Millen for that? Yes, he did not provide Mooch with the necessary players to go out and win, but at the same time, he was still in over his head as far as his responsibilities for building a winning football team…again, not really his fault. Sidenote concerning the Mornhinweg/Mooch era: Joey Harrington was not Millen’s choice for that draft pick. Quentin Jammer was. Quentin Jammer starts for a team who lost in the AFC Championship last year. Joey’s lack of development was also a major hurdle/barrier from the Lions having recent success…much like JP Losman in Buffalo right now.

Now, we come to the Rod Verysmelly era. Last year was a bad one. Team dissention left and right. Marinelli’s main focus last year was to fill his team with guys that shared his attitude. He weeded out losers like Dre Bly. He made Jon Kitna, who is one tough/stupid son of a gun, his QB. He knew the Lions weren’t going to go 10-6 last year; but, his goal was simple: prove you belong and you will belong.

Now, we fast forward to this year. Millen has a head coach who, whether you like him or not, you have to like his attitude. He has started to put people in the right places (to show that after all this time, he might actually be catching on how to build a team). And, the NFC couldn’t be weaker.

The job of winning is on EVERYONE that has a hand in each individual football game. The GM, the Player Personnel Director, the head coach, the assistant coaches, the quarterback, the holder on the field goals, the team managers, trainers, etc. It’s Millen’s job to put the right people in the right places to succeed.

Judging by what I said earlier about Tom Lewand and Bill Jr. still having hands in the organization, something tells me that they would have been involved no matter who was the Lions GM – Bill Walsh, Bill Polian, you name it. Granted, Polian and Walsh are far far more accomplished than Millen, but again, it wasn’t Millen’s fault that he was hired. It isn’t Millen’s fault that Bill Sr. grossly overpaid him on his contract extension.

Maybe, just maybe, Millen has started the Lions on the track to succeeding. Maybe he hasn’t, but they’re 2-0 and face an 0-2 Philly team that has looked like Michigan in its first two games. 3-0 isn’t too farfetched. Some “experts” are actually picking it.

Now, if you want to say this post was an apology for Millen’s disgusting first six years, you’re wrong. He should have been fired after four years, but he wasn’t. On the other hand, maybe he has started to learn how to run a decent football team. Maybe he hasn’t, but maybe he has.

My question to you: why is Matt Millen your enemy? The Lions were awful far before Matt Millen. I think Mark brought this up earlier. For Lions fans, the enemy shouldn’t be Matt Millen; it should be the guy who has let this losing go on for decades; the guy who has let guys like Lewand and Bill Jr. run the front office for over a decade over misery; the same guy that didn’t fire Millen after four years and gave him a ridiculous extension despite his horrid record; shoot, the guy that lets Millen live in Pennsylvania. Don’t say you wouldn’t work from home on a somewhat regular basis if your boss let you. Your enemy shouldn’t be Matt Millen, it should be Bill Ford, Sr.

With ALL of that said, the Lions are 2-0, why not enjoy the ride while it lasts?

By the way, for not giving two Rips (Haaaaaaamilton’s) about the Lions, I have written way too much about them in the last three days.