Cliff Avril Among Winners in Detroit Lions' First Preseason Game

Preseason games are the only times during the NFL season it's okay to put the "I" in team.

Does anybody care that the Lions lost 23-7? Not really. Other than the fact that it would have been nice to see a bit more offensive coherence, it's a non-issue.

The Pittsburgh Steelers didn't "win" that game; they just finished it with more points. I know that sounds absurd, but it's true.

In the first game of the NFL preseason, winners and losers are established by personal player performance. The "winners" move up the depth chart (or solidify their positions on them) and the "losers" get a little closer to the cut list.

So which Lions won, and which ones lost against the Pittsburgh Steelers?

Winners

Cliff Avril

If there was any lingering doubt about who starts at defensive end opposite Kyle Vanden Bosch, Saturday's game should have quelled it. Avril, despite lacking size, was able to create pressure and push the pocket, something he's unable to do consistently.

There were several plays which saw Avril and Vanden Bosch both coming off their edges, having beaten the right and left tackles, respectively, in equally little time. Avril's hard work culminated in a huge sack on Byron Leftwich on the first play of the Steelers' second drive. Avril was in the backfield so quickly, Leftwich hadn't even begun to sense a rush before getting decked.

Randy Phillips

Learn the name, ladies and gentlemen.

The undrafted free agent out of Miami didn't even start training camp with the Lions (he was signed a couple days in, after the team released Marquand Manuel), and he has rapidly shot up the depth chart. He started the game in place of the injured Louis Delmas, and didn't disappoint.

It won't show on the stat sheet, but Phillips had a solid game. He didn't look like a rookie, much less like an undrafted one. Aside from playing well in coverage, he made a huge play while coming in on a blitz, stuffing Rashard Mendenhall for a five-yard loss on a run up the middle. Success as a blitzing defensive back is going to put a smile on Gunther Cunningham's otherwise surly face.

It should be noted that Phillips came up with a fumble recovery on the next series, but the fumble ruling was (correctly) overturned. Still, Phillips came up with that ball by playing to the whistle, and that's what you like to see out of your young players.

Shaun Hill

Sign of progress: When your backup quarterback looks better than every quarterback that took a snap two seasons ago.

Shaun Hill, who was the starting quarterback for San Francisco for part of last year, looked better than a backup quarterback should look. Is that because he was playing against second and third-string players? Absolutely. But he also showed good awareness and decent accuracy, going 8-for-10 for 77 yards.

Hill isn't a stud quarterback by any stretch, and there won't be a quarterback controversy anytime soon. But it's good to know that if Matthew Stafford has to miss a couple of games, the team will remain in capable hands.

Eric King

Saturday marked the first time I really understood why Eric King is on the team.

Despite the fact that I've been calling him a favorite to get cut, he had a great game against the Steelers. Not only did he lead all secondary players with four tackles and an assist, he also notched a forced fumble making a play on Mewelde Moore at the line of scrimmage.

One of King's other tackles was a touchdown-saving play, in which Arnaz Battle beat his man and had only King between him and the end zone, and King brought him down at the 10-yard line after running down the play with a good angle. It's been a long time since I've been able to talk about a Detroit Lion's great tackling skills.

Later, King came over and made a last-second diving deflection on a deep pass by Steelers quarterback Dennis Dixon. Admittedly, Dixon left the pass a bit short, but King still did a great job of playing center field on it.

Tim Toone

Mr. Irrelevant didn't break any big plays on Saturday. No flash, no eye-popping feats of athleticism.

But he made me notice him.

Toone has drawn a lot of (frankly unfair) comparisons to Wes Welker, mostly due to his size, color, and ability to catch passes in traffic. But he actually deserved one on a short catch in the middle of the field.

Toone was running a short hook in route on about the hash mark, squared up, and caught the ball right in the numbers. Then he did a shoulder fake to the outside, and turned inside for a gain of over 10 yards.

Why did he get 10 yards on such a simple play, when he had a defender bearing down on him as soon as he caught the ball?

Because that little shoulder fake sent that defender running about four steps toward the sideline to intercept him, while Toone turned it upfield for solid yardage.

Sure, that defender was a third-string player, who may end up out of a job in two weeks. But Toone showed a glimpse of what he could do on that pass play, in addition to breaking about three tackles on a four-yard punt return. He needs to keep showing glimmers of value when he gets time like that, and he could find himself making the final 53.

Losers

Derrick Williams

Not a good night for the second-year receiver. Williams' 2010 debut was him fair-catching a punt on the three-yard line. That is the simplest of simple mental errors, and exactly the kind of thing Williams was supposed to be moving beyond this year.

Williams returned two kicks for a pedestrian 23 yards each, and found himself outclassed by someone in everything he did. Aaron Brown had the better night returning kicks, Tim Toone actually returned a punt (Williams only fair caught, sometimes embarrassingly) and looked sufficiently shifty doing so, and nearly everyone had a better night receiving.

To his credit, Williams did have a great catch in which he climbed the ladder to pull in a high throw as he was getting hit. Unfortunately, that was his only catch, and it was for six yards.

Jordon Dizon

The thin gets thinner.

Dizon was having a decent game all around (at least, for an undersized backup middle linebacker originally drafted for the Tampa-Two), until he got a helmet to the side of his knee. Now, though there has been no official announcement, Dizon has declared himself out for the season.

This poses a major problem. Dizon was shaky at best as a backup linebacker. Even DeAndre Levy is a question mark at the position. But if Dizon's injury is as bad is it seems, who is going to spell Levy? Landon Johnson? Caleb Campbell?

Are the Lions going to have to give Paris Lenon a call?

Amari Spievey

Yikes. I actually think I would have rather been Jordon Dizon with a broken knee than Amari Spievey with an earful of angry German on Saturday night.

It's bad enough Spievey got torched down the sideline by Antonio Brown for a 68-yard touchdown. But then he was met on his walk of shame back to the sideline by an enraged Gunther Cunningham. Cunningham let that poor kid have it worse than anyone I've ever seen on any team. Cunningham even grabbed his arm and spun him around at one point, as if to say, "Look at me when I'm cussing you out!"

It's no surprise that Spievey has struggled in training camp. Cornerbacks have a tough job, and it takes a very long time for young corners to get acclimated to the NFL game. Spievey, a largely unheralded third-round pick, is no different.

It's going to be a bumpy ride for him, and seeing how he handles his first major game mistake and subsequent chew-out will be very telling as to where his development is headed in the long term.

Jahvid Best

It was a decent evening for Best. Shaky, but decent.

Best showed his speed in a couple situations, bouncing a run to the outside and turning the corner. But he also showed a fair amount of difficulty finding a running lane between the tackles. Admittedly, six carries is a very small sample size, so I'll reserve final judgment on that matter.

I have said since the draft, however, that Best's greatest value would be as a sort of utility back. He needs to run inside, outside, catch passes out of the backfield, and sometimes even line up in the slot, showing off his good hands.

And those hands were on display as a catchable pass bounced off them and into the hands of Pittsburgh safety Ryan Clark.

All in all, Best didn't have an awful night, he just didn't impress anyone. He needs to at some point.

Gunther Cunningham

Take this one with a grain of salt. It's a preseason game, so Cunningham wasn't concerned with gameplanning for the Steelers' third-string quarterback.

That being said, Dennis Dixon made me worry about how the Lions' defense is going to fare against a running quarterback this season. And it's not because of the players, it's because every time Dixon broke the pocket, there was 10 yards of green pasture for him to stroll through.

Seems like after Dixon ran for his second or third first down, they might have kept a linebacker in to spy. Preferably one Dixon can't beat to the sideline.

Like I said, this isn't really a big deal, since I'm sure the Cunningham and the Lions' defense put zero time into preparing for Dixon in a preseason game.

But remember Dixon in this game in Week 16 if the Dolphins put up 50 points using the Wildcat.