Kitna Leaves No Question That He's "The Man"

There will always be some people who aren't going to care for Jon Kitna. No matter what. That's fine. Some folks' dog house is like a roach motel -- once you check in, you never check out.

I was on the fence about Kitna myself. Too many costly turnovers to my liking, and always in the fourth quarter it seemed. I had a nagging feeling that he was in that bursting-at-the-seams category of the Mediocre Quarterback, in which so many NFL signal callers seem to reside. Good at times, but not at a level needed to win anything of any importance.

I'm not on the fence any longer.

I don't know whether Kitna is good enough to lead the Lions any further than a game or two into the playoffs, but I do know this: the Lions can ill-afford to lose him for any length of time. And when was the last time you could say that about any Lions starting QB and keep a straight face?

Kitna was fabulous in yesterday's thrilling, "I don't want it, you can have it" 20-17 OT victory over the Minnesota Vikings.

He finally put an end to the nonsensical turnover contest the two teams were engaging in by taking matters into his own hands -- literally. Re-entering the game midway thru the fourth quarter after sitting out most of it with a case of wooziness, Kitna made a Bobby Layne-like return. Sideline reporter Jennifer Hammond said Kitna told his offensive line, "Just give me time," a la Layne in the waning moments of the 1953 NFL championship game, when Bobby told his line, "Y'all block and ole Bobby'll pass ya raght to the champee-enship." Kitna, in OT, caught his own pass and ran. He scrambled and ran. Sometimes he just ran, for the hell of it. And, of course, he completed the requisite passes in between. He turned the Ford Field crowd on, rallied his teammates behind him, and took control of the starting job and his place as team leader with about as firm a grip as any QB this town has this side of Mr. Layne.

Really, is there any doubt now that Kitna is the QB for this team? Chant for his removal all you want, you anti-Kitna-ers, but if you're looking for J.T. O'Sullivan, bless his heart, or Dan Orlovsky to be "the man," then you're simply delusional.

Ahh, but a mild scolding here for the Lions -- not to rain on anyone's parade. Why there isn't a capable veteran on the sidelines, wearing a baseball cap and carrying a clipboard, an earphone stuck into his side hole, is beyond my comprehension. Yes, Kitna played every offensive snap in 2006. But how often does that happen once, let alone two years in a row? It would be nice if, heaven forbid Kitna goes down again, the Lions could hand the reins over to a guy who's played a little bit in this league. Someone who won't throw lazy passes into double coverage, as O'Sullivan did, looking for Roy Williams. Someone who's not, essentially, a rookie, as O'Sullivan and Orlovsky are. Essentially.

I'm not trying to cause trouble here, or start a QB controversy. The job is Kitna's -- no doubt about that. But don't forget what veteran Dave Krieg did for the Lions in 1994 when Scott Mitchell got hurt. It never hurts to have a guy on the sidelines with whiskers instead of peach fuzz.

But back to the Lions. They, for the second week in a row, won a game that they would have lost in the past. It's nice to talk about the football for a change, instead of overweight receivers and overcooked team presidents. Were there mistakes? Absolutely. And Kitna himself has made some -- but now at least he's throwing his interceptions into the end zone in the first quarter instead of the fourth. You take improvement any way you can in this league.

But the Lions triumphed. They played thru their mistakes. And they took advantage of the other guy's. When backup QB Brooks Bollinger entered the game in OT, there was no Chris Weinke-type magic (remember Carolina beating the Lions a couple years ago that way?) to beat them. When Jason Hanson missed a 48-yard FG try late in regulation, the Vikes didn't make him pay. Their own 52-yarder hit the upright. And Kitna caught that pass to himself. Bollinger bobbled a snap in OT, and the Lions turned it into the winning kick. Aren't those the kinds of plays the Vikings have used to terrorize the Lions since, oh, 1968??

No, you don't have to like Jon Kitna as your quarterback. You can say that he's not anywhere near Peyton Manning's area code. You can whine all you want that he's no. 1 in Detroit. But there's absolutely no one on the roster who can hold a candle to him right now. And I'll take him. I'll take him just fine. He gave his body to the team in the name of victory. That'll win me over every time.