injuries, but still managed to beat the Seattle Seahawks in the first round of the playoffs—making NFL history by becoming the first team with a non-winning (regular season) record to win a postseason game. The Rams would go on to lose to the Falcons in the divisional round. The loss of defensive coordinator Lovie Smith, who left to become head coach of the Chicago Bears—and took two of his assistant coaches with him—impacted the team's performance on the field. On October 10, 2005, Martz took a leave of absence from the Rams to treat a persistent bacterial infection in his heart. His assistant head coach, Joe Vitt, became the interim coach for the rest of the season, and offensive coordinator Steve Fairchild chose the offensive plays. Martz told the Rams that after being examined and evaluated by his treating physician (Dr. Victoria Fraser), his illness would prevent him from performing his duties. Martz immediately announced that he would miss the rest of the season. Martz allegedly had several conflicts with the Rams' front office over the years, which reportedly came to a climax in 2005, as well. While watching a Rams game on live television while recuperating at home, Team President John Shaw prevented Martz from relaying a play call to Fairchild by phone. Despite being on leave, Martz also periodically appeared in-person at team practices late in the season. Martz was given medical clearance to coach the Rams' last regular season game, on New Year's Day, 2006; however, management refused to let him do so, and fired him the day after that game. Detroit Lions Martz interviewed for head coaching vacancies in Oakland and New Orleans. After the interview, he withdrew his candidacy for the position in Oakland. After initially rejecting an offer due to financial considerations, on February 8, 2006, Martz accepted an offer from the Detroit Lions to be their offensive coordinator and their quarterbacks coach. In 2006, his first season, the passing game improved considerably, ranking 7th overall behind quarterback Jon Kitna, who had his first 4,000-yard season at age 34. Detroit lost its first five games with Martz and finished 3–13 in his first season as coordinator. Though the offense obviously had its woes, Martz wasn't blamed for very much of the team's issues, as the defense was also bad and there were various injury and personnel issues. In 2007, expectations were high despite the