No NFL team has tried harder to develop a high-octane offense in recent years than the Detroit Lions, who from 2002 to 2005 used their first-round draft picks — all in the top 10 — on a quarterback and three wide receivers. It hasn’t worked. Two of those four top 10 picks, quarterback Joey Harrington and receiver Charles Rogers, are already gone and a third, Mike Williams, might as well be, as the Lions haven’t even suited him up this season. Of the four picks, only one, Roy Williams, has contributed anything.

This year the Lions again tried to make an off-season splash to improve their offense, but they did it with a high-profile assistant coach, not a high-profile college player. By hiring offensive coordinator Mike Martz, who designed the St. Louis Rams’ offense known as the Greatest Show on Turf, the Lions thought they could succeed with their coaching staff where they failed with the draft. After two games, things aren’t looking good. The Lions have scored just 13 points in their two losses, and they rank in the bottom 10 of the league in most offensive categories: points, total yards, yards per play, first downs, third-down conversion rate, time of possession and turnovers, to name a few.

Some might look at the statistics and say Martz has failed, but the biggest problem for the Lions, who play the 0–2 Green Bay Packers on Sunday, isn’t the playbook, it’s the personnel. In St. Louis, the arrival of Martz as offensive coordinator in 1999 coincided with the arrival of quarterback Kurt Warner, running back Marshall Faulk, and receiver Torry Holt. If the Rams hadn’t added three talented players the same year that they added Martz, he might never have been labeled a genius. He doesn’t have that level of talent in Detroit — of his 11 offensive starters, not one is as good as the player at the same position when Martz’s Rams were at their peak.

New Lions quarterback Jon Kitna’s statistics (44-of-67 for 459 yards, with no touchdowns and no interceptions) don’t look bad, but that’s in large part because he’s playing exactly the kind of overly cautious style that Martz was supposed to change. In St. Louis, with Trent Green, Warner, and Marc Bulger leading his teams, Martz stretched the field with deep passes and allowed his quarterbacks to take risks. Kitna is so riskaverse that if he doesn’t see a wide-open receiver, he won’t throw. That is why he has already been sacked nine times.

Signing a mediocre veteran like the 34-year-old Kitna was a strange choice for the Lions, a team that would seem better served by developing a young player. But Kitna is far from the only reason Martz’s offense has stalled. Kitna’s offensive line is at least as much to blame for those nine sacks as he is, and those sacks point to the biggest flaw in Martz’s offense: pass protection. Warner had a brilliant start to his career, but he quickly deteriorated as the frequent hits he received in St. Louis took a heavy toll. Kitna can expect to get hit even more than Warner did in St. Louis because Orlando Pace, one of the best offensive linemen in the league, hid some of Martz’s weak protection schemes. The Lions’ offensive line has no such all-pros.

Their offensive line also hasn’t opened many holes for the running game. Kevin Jones, who looked promising when he averaged 4.7 yards a carry as a rookie in 2004, slumped in 2005 and has been terrible this year. He is averaging just 3.0 yards a carry and has already lost three fumbles.

The biggest problem, though, is the one the Lions have tried so desperately to fix: the receiving corps. The Lions’ depth at receiver is so thin that Mike Furrey, a converted safety who has more tackles than receptions in his career, leads the team with 122 receiving yards. Martz has never had to see how his offense looks with a dearth of talent at wide receiver, but that is exactly what he has in Detroit, no matter how many college stars the team has drafted. Martz wants to become a head coach again, but failing in Detroit could derail his career. That’s why he needs to turn the Lions’ offense around — something no coach could do without better players.