The Martz Bowl

One of the least talked about stories this week is 49ers offensive coordinator Mike Martz coaching against his former team in the Detroit Lions. The game that could be the "Martz Bowl" has both teams in a must win situation. For the Lions they need to avoid a 0-3 start in a hurry if they look to turn around their season and this is a very critical game for San Francisco as their schedule gets tougher than understanding a George Bush press conference.

Martz has molded the two starting quarterback's entering Sunday's game. Jon Kitna and J.T. O'Sullivan have both had similar paths in getting to this point in their careers. They were both overlooked and had to work their way up as undrafted free agents to now starters for two NFL teams. Kitna had a couple of monster seasons with Martz at the helm and at this point it looks like O'Sullivan could do the same. Against Seattle last week the 29 year old first year starter passed for over 300 yards and ran for 30 more. Of course going up against a battered Seattle team doesn't look like much but it certainly helped the 49ers gain some confidence and a little bit of momentum after tripping up against Arizona in week one. The Lions on the other hand have nothing to be confident about. They are 0-2 and their defense may give up 400 or more points this year if that type of play continues. Unable to find a consitent running game the Lions first turned to Rudi Johnson and now reports have circulated they did the same with former NFL MVP Shaun Alexander. No matter who is running the ball, the Lions need to churn some yards.

Martz has been very quite when asked about facing his former team. Publicly there have been no hard feelings on either side. The Lions Jon Kitna has praised Martz for being a "father figure" and wide receiver Roy Williams made statements earlier in the week making it seem like he wanted Martz back. The Lions could need him, but for the 49ers they may have finally found a spark they never had previously in the Mike Nolan era. Frank Gore had an unsual down game last week vs the Seahawks but something tells me he will hit the century mark and then some against the Lions. Another failed year in what has been a mess during the Millen era. For the 49ers it could be the start of something beautiful with Martz in town. Now they just have to actually win the game.