Lions have problems at QB, yet still lead the NFC North

Either Joey Harrington or Jeff Garcia will be at QB against the Browns today.
CLEVELAND (AP) -- Calling it a controversy doesn't come close to explaining Detroit's quarterback situation.
An ugly, festering mess might be more appropriate.
Pity poor Lions coach Steve Mariucci, who has a first-place team and a second- or third-rate offense. He went into today's game against the Cleveland Browns with two choices for a starting QB, neither of them very good.
Mariucci's dilemma: Should he keep playing Joey Harrington, who has the NFL's lowest passer's rating and was booed off Ford Field by angry Lions fans last weekend? Or should Mariucci switch to Jeff Garcia, a 35-year-old coming off a broken leg and a shattered 2004 season with Cleveland?
"You take a lot of things into consideration," Mariucci said earlier this week. "But the bottom line is that it's a matter of who I feel gives us the best chance to win the game. I really believe both guys are capable."
Lead NFC North
Despite their quarterbacking conflict, the Lions (2-3) are atop the dreadful NFC North, and after playing the Browns (2-3), they'll face division rivals Chicago and Minnesota in consecutive weeks with a chance to separate from the pack.
They'll only be able to do that if they can fix the league's 30th-ranked offense, which was outscored by Detroit's defense in a 21-20 loss to Carolina last week. Harrington, who has yet to live up to the expectations of a No. 3 overall draft pick (2002), has taken the brunt of the criticism.
But Mariucci, who wasn't expected to make a decision on his starter until game-time, has sheltered Harrington better than Detroit's offensive line.
"It would be crazy to point the finger at one person -- the quarterback," he said. "You know how that goes. The quarterback expects to get some help from the running game. He expects some help from the protection and from the wide receiving corps making some plays. So we feel that there are several areas that need obvious improvement, offensively, to help the quarterback out."
Breakout season
This was supposed to be Harrington's breakout season. He passed for a career-high 3,047 yards and 19 touchdowns a year ago, and with wide receivers Roy Williams, Mike Williams and Charles Rogers at his disposal, Harrington figured to be on the verge of greatness.
But Rogers was suspended, Roy Williams has been injured, the Lions' running game has struggled and Harrington, who turned 27 on Friday, has thrown just four TD passes and eight interceptions.
Last week, Detroit fans focused their hostility on Harrington, whose string of 37 consecutive starts -- the most by a Lions quarterback since Greg Landry from 1970-73 -- could be in jeopardy.
Garcia returned to practice this week for the first time since breaking his left leg in the Lions' final exhibition game at Buffalo. He and Harrington split the snaps with the first-team offense this week.
Crennel guesses starter
Browns coach Romeo Crennel thinks he knows what Mariucci will do.
"I really expect to see Harrington," Crennel said, "and that's just my best guess. I'm totally guessing. It sounds like Garcia's going to get some more reps, and they might decide to go with him depending on how he looks and how he moves."
Whether he plays or not, Garcia is coming back to a city that holds mostly unpleasant memories for the three-time Pro Bowl selection with San Francisco, where he twice led the 49ers to the playoffs under Mariucci.
Garcia signed a four-year, $25 million contract with the Browns before last season, brought in by former coach Butch Davis to revive the offense. But Garcia never got comfortable in Cleveland, and the Browns' new regime released him last February.
"Obviously, my experience last year was not one that I would've hoped it would've been," Garcia said. "It seemed like a quick experience."
But a painful one for Cleveland fans, who after initially embracing Garcia's mobility and moxie, couldn't wait to see him go.