MajorNinerFan – Nolan is a great coach, you just can’t see it due to this past season. Since he’s been here, he’s gotten rid of all the mistakes from the past two HC’s, got us a defense who can stop anything when they get some time to rest, and quality players both on and off the field. While I do agree with you that Martz will end up being our next HC, I don’t think it should happen. Blame Norv Turner for last year, not Nolan.

As for Alex Smith, give the poor guy some credit. How difficult is it to work for three different people in the same amount of years? Watch the kid. He has hints of Steve Young in there. Now if we could just get an offensive line who could PASS BLOCK as opposed to only run block, we’d be good enough to go all the way.

I say playoffs.

MajorNinerFan, I think Martz really displayed an almost Norv-like inability to manage an entire football team. Norv seems to finally be proving us wrong, but we’ll see how things go this season. I prefer for Martz to remain behind the offense and practice his mad scientist ways within the confines of what he does best.

Mike Nolan is a much more balanced, more reasonable person than Martz. Nolan has a better grasp on how to relate to everyone within the organization and the media. Nolan is better at being a head coach than Martz. Now, if Nolan is a bad head coach, then Martz is worse.

Thanks, HonoluluLes. That’s high praise! I just try to have professional standards.

In 2004, Jackson’s rookie year, Faulk had over 700 yards, and Jackson over 600. That’s 1300 yards by committee. In 2005, Martz’ last season as head coach, Faulk had 292, Jackson 1046. That’s also 1300 yards. You’re right, he had Jackson and Faulk on the team and he used them.

I also never intimated Martz was forced to throw in St. Louis. Kevin Jones had 1,000 yards in 2004 because he was everything they had. 1,000 yards is decent in this league, not outstanding. The Lions had Joey Harrington until 2006, so my argument is they were forced to run the ball until Martz and Kitna were there.

You are misquoting me, somehow. I never said Martz was held back, I was saying he made use of what he had with his “bookend” receivers, who were not the players people normally associate with Martz. In 2006, Furrey had 1,000 yards while Roy Williams had 1,300. In 2007 the Lions receivers tallied, respectively, McDonald: 943, Williams: 838, Johnson: 756, Furrey: 664. He was not a slave to his system. He did adapt, making use of a different type of personnel.

You’re right, Martz didn’t really do anything magical with Kitna. He simply knows how to make quarterbacks successful. The fact is that Kitna never would have gone to Detroit if Martz wasn’t there, because he knows what the coach does for quarterbacks. The magic Martz worked was make Detroit a whole lot more of a contender than they would have been without him.

Kurt Warner fell apart because he got injured and Bulger came in. He did just as well, and why not keep him in, because Warner was pretty old by typical quarterback standards. If the talent level with Bulger was so much better, how did they win the Super Bowl in 1999 and not later? The talent argument is very debatable.

I didn’t rewrite history. The numbers back me up.

Next, you say he’s not a slave to his system and then act like he was somehow held back by having two big “book end” WR’s in Detroit. So apparently he’s not a slave to his system, he just can’t adapt it to utilize guys like Roy Williams and Charles Johnson? Sounds logical.

Since, 1999 Mike Martz has passed the ball a minimum of 59% of the time. Thats FAR more than the rest of the league. Put any other coordinator in those jobs – would they have done the same thing? Or is it possible Martz just prefers passing the ball?

Martz didn’t work any “magic” on Jon Kitna. Kitna put up those stats based on sheer volume. Plug any QB into an offense that throws that much and you will see their numbers go up. Its not “magic” – its “math”.

As for Bulger and Warner – its true that Warner made MVP under Martz, but he also fell apart under Martz. If the rise is all Martz, than so is the fall. Bulger’s stats were higher under Martz because the overall talent level was higher and because they threw the ball so much. This isn’t rocket science.

If you want to argue that Martz will change his tune in SF, than just argue that. But don’t re-write history to make your case, it doesn’t suit you. I thought you were better than that.

i have watched alex for a lond time since living in utah and i know he will turn the corner this season he has so much abilty….. our offense sucked last season because if Jim Hostler that guy better never come around again indiana jim U the man keep these types of articals coming