Detroit Lions preseason: 3 different approaches, choose your own adventure
The Jim Schwartz Approach
Preseason IS the season!
This is for those of you, who despite mountains of evidence to the contrary, still get worked up over the team’s performance in the preseason.
Steve Spurrier was the originator of this approach, Rod Marinelli brought it to Detroit, and Jim Schwartz perfected it.
This is for people who hit winners in tennis warmup, boast about being a pre-law student, or confuse having a million dollar idea with having a million dollars.
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Steve Spurrier took over the Redskins, signed all his ex-Florida stars, and went Beast Mode during the 2002 preseason. The Redskins scored 38, 37, 35, and 40 points in their four wins. They never scored that many in any regular season game with “the Old Ball Coach” at the helm.
Rod Marinelli pulled a classic bait and switch with this technique in 2008, getting four exhibition wins out of an eventual 0-16 squad. The Cleveland Browns did the same thing last year.
For me, Jim Schwartz takes the cake though. I don’t have the stats to back this up, but Schwartz must have one of the highest preseason winning percentages in league history. In his five years in Detroit, the Lions went 15-5 overall in these inter-squad scrimmages.
Not only that, but the undefeated preseason of 2011 even included a “statement game” where Detroit beat up on the Patriots 34-10. It was like going on Madden, turning the difficulty on rookie, and guiding the Lions to the Super Bowl. You know the whole time that it’s not real, but it’s kind of fun while it lasts anyway. Who else but Jim Schwartz would have a statement game in the preseason?
I hope that these three examples are enough to dissuade anyone from thinking that preseason performances are any indicator of how good the team is actually going to be. It is NOT time to panic, and as long as it’s the preseason, it never will be.
Supporting evidence for Jim Schwartz approach: None, but if these are the only games you have a chance to win, might as well go for it.
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Whether Barry Sanders, Brock Olivo, or Jim Schwartz is the spirit guide to your Lions preseason fandom, take heart: in only three more weeks, it’s go time.