How lame is this duck?

Weren't the Lions supposed to have a new (interim) coach by now? But here we are on another Monday, frustrated with the result and wondering what happened. And the Lions didn't even play a game yesterday. On Thursday night and Friday morning, the dismissal of Steve Mariucci was reportedly imminent. I spent a good chunk of my holiday Friday listening to WXYT, waiting - as the news vultures were - for what seemed like an inevitability.

But as I write this, Mariucci is still the Lions head coach. On Thursday night, FOX 2's Dan Miller (who used to host a radio show with Matt Millen before he came to Detroit) reported that meetings were taking place to discuss a coaching change.

(AP Photo/Paul Sancya)

Yet nothing happened on Friday. What went through Millen's mind during the day? After sleeping on it, did he not want to make a decision based on anger and embarrassment, following the Lions loss to Atlanta? Did he prefer to take the weekend to sort through his thoughts and explore his options?

Did he want to wait until the Fords returned from their Thanksgiving excursion before making a final decision? Was he concerned that firing a man during a holiday weekend might seem heartless?

Did Mariucci's likely interim replacement, defensive coordinator Dick Jauron, not want the job? And if that was the case, was that reluctance based on loyalty to Mariucci? Was he worried that leading the Lions through the remaining lost cause of a season would taint his resume? Was it about money? Or did Millen question whether Jauron would be a suitable replacement?

As usual, there are nothing but questions surrounding the Lions. But if anything is to be salvaged from what has now officially become a miserable season, Millen needs to answer some of those questions - especially the ones surrounding the coaching staff - immediately.

When Mariucci wasn't fired on Friday, I briefly thought that may have been the right move. After all, there are only five games left. What would really be different? Even if Jauron was installed as head coach, he's not going to have that job once the season ends. And the players would surely realize that. So what would be the point of changing one dead coach walking for another? Just ride this out, and plan for next season.

But maybe a firing could happen later today, and this is why it should: Millen has to figure out what he has here. And he can't do that while Mariucci is running his sideways offense and sending passive-aggressive messages to players like Joey Harrington and Kevin Jones. He's coaching out of sheer desperation now. Substituting Jeff Garcia at quarterback with three minutes left in the first half on Thursday was the hasty kind of move a teenage boy makes on a first date. That was grabbing for his date's breast before she could get out of the car. Does Millen really want five more games of that?

Playing for a coach whose job is on life support would allow the team to let itself off the hook, and Millen needs to know who will take some accountability for their play. Who can be counted upon next season? Who wants to live up to their potential talent?

Is Harrington the quarterback Millen thinks he is? Are the wide receivers capable playmakers that can stretch a defense down the field and influence the outcome of a game? Is Jones the type of running back who thrives on a heavy load of carries, gets stronger as a game wears on, and can tire out a defense? Millen won't know unless he lets Greg Olson run the offense, as he did through the final games of last season. Harrington and Jones have never looked better.

And though the consensus is that Millen is so popular with Lions ownership that his job is safe, these last five weeks could indicate exactly what sort of leader he is. Is he the kind of guy who will make tough decisions when they need to be made? Is he capable of steering this franchise toward prosperity? Does he really know what to do with the power that the Fords have given him? Or is he ultimately just playing fantasy football?

As Tom Petty once sang, the waiting is the hardest part. Five more weeks of this could be excruciating.