Martz says it's about the players, not the playcalling
Lions offensive coordinator Mike Martz talked with the media today and here are some excerpts from that interview:
On the offense:
"We're a long ways from being a good offense. We're kind of just OK, really. We're getting better, but we're not nearly where we need to be.''
What's holding you back?
"There always seems to be an execution issue here or there. It just takes one guy, one foul-up someplace, a stumble or trip on a particular play. We're getting better. I think we'll start to snowball here in a little bit.''
Does Kurt Warner still have a little magic?
"I don't know about magic, I know he's a good player - a real good player. He's very competitive and he has unusual skills, very accurate and he sees things so well. And he's very good in the clutch. I think if it's magic, that's what it is.''
Are the Cardinals a dangerous team because of their record?
"No, they're dangerous because they're good, I mean really good. This is probably the best defense we've seen so far, they're a top 10 defense in the league. We know we have our work cut out for us.''
Mike Furrey isn't catching as many balls, how is he adjusting?
"You can use Mike in so many different capacities. He's such a smart player and a competitive guy that he's invaluable to us in what we do. Whether it's diminished or not, if he only touches it twice - like the Bears game here - where he had two big catches to help us win that game. Those are significant.''
Playcalling, his knack for playcalling:
"When they're executing, it's easy to call plays. I think there's too much to be said about playcalling. It really goes down to guys focusing on details and executing and playing this game with great passion. If you do that, you can make a bad call and they can make it work. It happens all the time. When you're not executing, you make what you think is a great call in the perfect situation and it doesn't work out. Understand that part of it. The role of the playcaller and the play selection is not as large as it's sometimes made out to be.''
What about the two calls on the two-play, 95-yard touchdown drive against the Broncos:
"Here's the deal: That play to the tight end coming off our own goal line, the safety has him in coverage. We blocked it perfectly and when he went to release, the safety went to jam him and (Sean McHugh) knocked him over. Here he comes out clean and untouched for this (46-yard) gain. Had he not done such a great job with the route and if we hadn't protected, who knows how that comes out? Then they came with a full blitz and (quarterback Jon Kitna) hangs in there and hangs in there until the last second and Mac (Shaun McDonald) sees it, adjusts it perfectly and they get a touchdown out of it. If they don't execute that, those are horrible calls.''
What does Roy Williams have to do differently to get his numbers up?
"There's a lot that goes into that. Part of the issue is that we're running the ball so much better and there are less opportunities for him to begin with. When the opportunity comes up, he's just got to make a play but there haven't been a whole lot of opportunities down there for him right now. But that's going to change, it changes in a heartbeat. What we're trying to do now is manage the game and win the surest way.''
Will you continue to rotate Petermand and Woody at right guard?
"No. No, Peterman is our starting right guard.''
What about Tatum Bell?
"He's not in the rotation yet, we'll make that decision. That part of it comes down to special teams play. If you're not the starting running back you need to have some significant special teams ability or it's tough to carry them on the active list. It has nothing to do with running ability.''
Has Calvin Johnson's back injury slowed his development?
"We didn't have him last week until the last part of the week, we weren't sure we were going to have him. So you don't really plan on him and you've got to be very careful on how much he's in the plan. We had him for a few weeks and then he got hurt. For about the last six weeks, he really hasn't been available. He's available so we can incorporate him right now and he's feeling real good.''
On Detroit's two-minute offense:
"I think we've scored - if we haven't scored every time, we probably missed one maybe. In those situations we've been able to score. That's an assumption for us, we're going to do that. That's a must for us. We have to be successful whenever we're in the two-minute drill.''
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