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Adversity faced: Just before training camp began, all-time great RB Barry
Sanders announced his retirement. If the Lions had been given the entire offseason to make
plans for life without Sanders, it would have been a daunting task. To have so little
advance notice made for a herculean task that bordered on the impossible.
How the team coped: Exceptionally well. The Lions were coming off of a 5-11
season in 1998 when they had Sanders, so no one expected a trip to the playoffs. The team
shocked the football experts by winning eight of its first 12 games. The Lions then ran
out of gas, losing their last four regular-season games, but the fast start was enough to
earn them a postseason spot.
The Lions served notice on the NFL in Week One that they were not about to wave the
white flag of surrender.
"No Barry Sanders, no chance," seemed to be the thinking of the outside
world.
Well, if the Lions were feeling sorry for themselves, they sure hid it well, beating a
Seahawks club expected to be a playoff contender by the score of 28-20 in Seattle.
"Everybody in the world thought (the Seahawks) would win the ballgame," Lions
QB Charlie Batch said. "I think it’s a shock for everyone. But it wasn’t a
shock for us."
Shocking or not, the Lions’ performance was the equivalent of the Beatles cutting
a record without Paul McCartney and John Lennon and still churning out hit music. As if
the absence of Sanders were not enough adversity for one team to overcome, the Lions also
had to play most of the game without star WR Herman Moore, who sprained his knee in the
first quarter and missed the rest of the game.
One door closes, another opens up. This was opportunity knocking for WR Germane
Crowell, a second-round draft choice in 1998.
Crowell made the most of his chance, catching seven passes for 141 yards and two
touchdowns.
"He had a tremendous game," Moore said. "He’s a guy we all have a
lot of confidence in. Right now, people don’t know a lot about him. But they’re
about to find out."
The upset win was a big morale boost, but the Lions were quickly running out of stars.
Sanders stayed in retirement all season, and Moore would not catch a pass until Week 12
because of his injury. Whatever positive thoughts the club had after the win over Seattle
were tempered by the fact that it had to face a Green Bay squad the following week that
was viewed as a Super Bowl threat heading into the season.
Without Sanders.
Without Moore.
Without a prayer?
Without fear is more like it. A 91-yard kickoff return by Terry Fair and big plays by
Batch spurred the Lions to a 23-15 upset victory.
The Lions fell behind 15-14 early in the fourth quarter, but Fair returned the ensuing
kickoff to the Packers’ eight-yard line, and three plays later Batch, who had
connected on TD passes of 45 and 74 yards, made a nice fake and scored on a bootleg to
give Detroit the lead for good.
"We weren’t going to stop playing just because Barry isn’t here,"
Batch said. "We are doing exactly what I expected us to do. We are winning football
games."
They were winning football games, thanks to a controversial decision from one year
earlier. After an 0-2 start in 1998, Lions head coach Bobby Ross decided he’d had
enough of up-and-down QB Scott Mitchell. Ross benched the veteran and, in a jaw-dropping
decision, gave the job to Batch, then a raw rookie out of Eastern Michigan.
The Lions’ season never recovered, but the seeds for future progress had been
planted. One step back, two steps forward.
Despite the Lions’ poor record in 1998, Batch played better than just about anyone
could have expected.
Now it was 1999 and the surprising Lions were 2-0, thanks to grit and young Batch.
"Charlie is the kind of guy who is going to put his head down and do whatever it
takes to win," Lions TE David Sloan said. "I think folks are seeing now what
coach Ross saw and made the bold decision he did last season."
Not that Batch was making anyone forget about Joe Montana or Johnny Unitas just yet.
Against the Packers, for example, Batch threw two TD passes, but each time he came back on
the Lions’ next possession and threw an interception. One step back, two steps
forward.
"There’s still some things he’s making that are young player
mistakes," Ross said. "But the one thing that you really like about Charlie is
that he’s a playmaker. He’ll make plays.
"The other thing that you like is that he’s a fighter. He’s not going to
finger-point. He’s going to compete."
In spite of the absence of Sanders, in spite of the injury to Moore, in spite of a
makeshift offensive line, Batch and the Lions were off to a nice start.
Then came the first test of the Lions’ resolve without Sanders. They lost in Week
Three to the Chiefs 31-21. Surely a bump in the road would have everyone moaning about
life without Sanders.
Think again.
"I think the attitude has been great," Lions FS Mark Carrier said.
"Everyone is working hard, and everyone dealt well with the Barry situation."
Batch said, "We’re kind of tired of the whole thing. The players never talk
about it anymore. It just doesn’t come up."
Translation: Let the rest of the football world fret about Sanders. The Lions were too
busy trying to win football games to worry about anyone who wasn’t in their locker
room.
The Lions lost their next game to San Diego 20-10. Was reality setting in? No way.
Reality was that the Lions then ripped off four straight victories, all against teams that
would finish the season .500 or better, to race to a 6-2 mark.
Barry who?
That certainly seemed to be the sentiment as momentum built.
Continued on Page 2
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