In case you haven't noticed, I've tried to make Beyond Boxscores a Lions-free zone for a while. I'm just tired of hearing about the Lions. It's dominating sports-talk radio. It's dominating the newspaper. Chants of "Fire Millen" are dominating arenas from Ann Arbor to Pontiac to the nation's capital (I guess Wings fans at the game against Washington struck up the oh-so-popular refrain). It's just been all Lions, all the time in Detroit and I thought I'd give you and me a break for a bit.
However, I have to stop my silence on our beloved Honolulu Blue and Silver for a moment. Not only do I want to discuss the Lions, I want to say something nice. Yes. I mean it. I have some positive to say about a Lions' player without a shred of sarcasm attached. Here goes.
Earl Holmes is having an excellent year. He should be the team MVP. He might even merit some Pro Bowl discussion except his team is so horrible, I doubt he will even get sniff.
I heard an accurate assessment of the Lions today. I think it may have been Mike Valenti at 1270am who stated "The Lions have a quarterback that can't throw, receivers that can't catch and lineman that can't block". However, Holmes is the exception to that rule.
Week in and week out all Earl Holmes does is his job--stop the guy with the ball. Holmes, who seems like he has been in pro football since the days of Slingin' Sammy Baugh, is making a ton of tackles. He has made 75 tackles to date, good for second place on the team, while missing two games to injury and only on the field in running situations.
Not only has Holmes slowed down the team the Lions face each week, he's performed so well that the line of would-be replacements for his job remain in limbo. Holmes simply outperforms his younger teammates.
I've always liked Holmes. He came to my attention all those years ago when his career began with Pittsburgh. With the Steelers, Holmes did much of what he does now--stop the opposition. Ten years later and Earl Holmes still does his job very well. He's the one Lions who does.
1 comment:
I agree - Holmes has been outstanding. And that wasn't expected. You could argue his career in Detroit had been disappointing, up until this season.
But he's been the defensive MVP, easily. Dre' Bly might supply all the flash, but Holmes quietly gets the job done. Through most of the season, it seemed like he was in on every tackle.
I don't think it's any coincidence that the defense faltered once Holmes got injured.
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