Week 3 of the NFL Preseason is generally the game where the starters get to see their most action. Once it was announced the Lions would be hosting the defending Super Bowl Champion New England Patriots for the week 3 exhibition game, we knew it would be an interesting look.
Tom Brady is the greatest quarterback ever. The Lions defense is not good. The New England Patriots might not lose a football game this season. It was not surprising to see the Patriots and Brady have their way with the Lions young and mediocre defense. With all that said, it is not a good look for the Lions defense to get completely dominated in the fashion that they did. For perspective, Brady finished his night 12/15 for 174 yards and 2 touchdowns. Yes, he did throw an interception to Glover Quin, but that seemed more like a gift than anything. The Patriots were just simply able to do what ever the hell they wanted. It also didn’t help that Chris Hogan decided to play like Randy Moss in his prime. New England’s first stringers put up 24 EASY points in the first quarter, and if you watched the game, easy is an understatement.
If you’d like to search for a positive, it’s that Ezekiel Ansah wasn’t on the field during this mess, and his pass rush presence SHOULD somewhat improve the defensive line. Rookie linebacker Jarred Davis didn’t have a great showing, but that’s fine, he needs it, and there’s a learning curve that most rookies are going to have to go through. Just all around, it was a very poor night for the Detroit defense, but that shouldn’t really be a surprise to anybody as they were one of the worst defensive units in football last year. Yes, they have upgraded from a year ago, but that doesn’t mean they’re a good defensive team yet. It’s going to be a process, but the “it’s the Patriots” excuse isn’t acceptable, as there are offenses just as good, if not better the Lions have to line up against this season. For example, Arizona, New York, and Atlanta are their first three opponents, and each of those teams have explosive offenses with playmakers all over the field.
Onto the other story of the game, and that’s the offense. It looked like it was going to be a complete circus when Golden Tate fumbled on the very FIRST offensive play of the game. The next drive didn’t end in a turnover, it just ended in a three and out, and some questionable play calls. Later on, it was either the third or fourth drive of the game and the Lions faced a 3rd and long, and that drive ended in a curl route about five yards away from the first down marker. Again, questionable play calling.
They did rebound nicely though, as they put together two touchdown drives. The first was an absolute dime from Matthew Stafford to Marvin Jones in the corner of the end zone. The second touchdown of the night was just a short flare route to Dwayne Washington and he made something happen from about 20 yards out, which was a nice sight to see from the second year running back out of Washington.
Ameer Abdullah is important. If the kid plays a full sixteen, he’s going to have a hell of a year. He finished the night with 13 carries for 60 yards, and 3 receptions for 39 yards. Abdullah makes things happen even when there seems to be nothing there, and that’s a skill not many running backs on this roster have.
Lastly, Jake Rudock put on another damn good showing. He finished the night 10/13 for 113 yards and a touchdown pass. Rudock looks very comfortable back there and always seems to make the right decision. I don’t know what his future is in this league, but a serviceable backup fits him as of now.
Overall Assessment: It is JUST preseason. There is no need to panic just yet. It is good for the younger guys on the team to get a taste of that for the first time in their careers though. If anything close to that happens week 1 against Arizona, then the Lions are in big trouble.
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