It is potentially one of the epic NFL addition-by-subtractions of this season: Jeff Garcia in as the Detroit Lions’ starting quarterback, Joey Harrington out. This is decidedly mixed news for the Bears.
Harrington, now officially a bust after arriving as the No. 3 overall pick of the 2002 draft, virtually handed the Bears a 38-6 win last month with five interceptions. But while the Lions have won only 16 games behind Harrington in his three-plus seasons, four of those have been against the Bears. And he has never lost twice to the Bears in a season.
But now he is gone and the Lions are not likely to repeat the largesse they displayed in September. Half of the 10 interceptions they have given up this season came from Harrington in that game. Harrington interceptions turned into 28 Bears points. Two touchdowns came on drives of 43 and 38 yards and another came on a 41-yard interception return by Mike Brown.
Harrington said he wanted Lions fans to have “something to cheer about.” Now he’s given them that by sitting down.
Garcia, who promptly led the Lions to a win at Cleveland last week that included zero turnovers, has done the Bears serious harm in the past when he and Detroit coach Steve Mariucci were with the San Francisco 49ers.
Garcia threw the 20 completions to Terrell Owens in the 2000 game that marked the end of quarterback Cade McNown’s tenure with the Bears. He destroyed the Bears 49-7 to start the 2003 season.
He was on his way to taking them down in 2001 in a game remembered for linebacker Brian Urlacher intimidating a juggled pass out of Owens that was intercepted and returned for a touchdown by Brown. The Bears mounted an unlikely comeback that set the pattern for an unlikely season.
“I didn’t really do anything,” Urlacher insisted. “Well, maybe I did hit him a little bit with my left forearm as he was falling down, and then Mike caught the ball and scored. I might have gotten in his vision a little bit.”
Whether to deflect blame from himself or not, Owens charged afterward that Mariucci, after the 49ers built a big lead in the second half, had let up out of sympathy for coach Dick Jauron, a Mariucci friend from their days together in Green Bay.
“We were in control of [that game] in the fourth quarter,” Garcia recalled, “and unfortunately, because of coach Mariucci’s relationship with Dick Jauron, we tapered off, right? That’s at least how T.O. said it, wasn’t it?
“They did a great job of coming back and forcing that game into overtime and then made a big play in overtime to win that game.”
Garcia has been to the Pro Bowl that the Lions envisioned for Harrington–three times in fact. Garcia was signed last March and there was immediate speculation that Mariucci was bringing in more than just a veteran backup.
That proved to be the case. Garcia broke his leg in the Lions’ exhibition finale, but as soon as he was deemed able to play, Mariucci benched Harrington and made Garcia the starter.
“I think it’s definitely needed, and it isn’t a comparison between myself and Joey,” Garcia said. “Just in watching through the first five games and seeing where this team was headed and the direction we were going in”–Garcia hesitated–“it is important that there is leadership out on the field.
“It is important that there is somebody who expects more out of people and not just allows players to just show up on Sunday and think that they can make it happen, because it doesn’t work that way.”
Garcia is 35; Harrington just turned 27. But Garcia is the mobile danger. Bears defensive coordinator Ron Rivera noted a change in the other members of the Lions offense as receivers and backs seem to sense that after a few seconds, if nothing has happened, they should start looking for alternatives because Garcia is.
“He’s a playmaker, a guy who’s more dangerous when the play breaks down and he makes things happen,” Brown said.
Cornerback Charles Tillman sees younger feet on the older quarterback: “Footwork is the main [difference]. Garcia keeps things alive. He doesn’t go down as easy as Harrington.”
But the Bears intend to take him down.
“I like Garcia,” defensive end Adewale Ogunleye said. “He’s been to the Pro Bowl a couple of times. But any quarterback gets rattled with pressure in his face.”
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jmullin@tribune.com
