Detroit Lions Monday Morning Quarterback: Preseason Week Three

The Game

The Lions defeated the Cleveland Browns 35-27 in their first preseason game at Ford Field.

The offense looked like a machine with Jahvid Best at running back, as it only took three plays to cover 68 yards for a touchdown. The bulk of the yardage came on a weaving 51-yard run by Best. The touchdown came on a beautiful Matthew Stafford throw to a well covered Bryant Johnson.

The offense had issues after that initial drive as the three remaining drives in the first half ended with two punts and a fumble.

Meanwhile the defense struggled as the starters allowed Cleveland three first half scoring drives. The starters gave up two long touchdown drives of 78 and 79 yards.  They also surrendered a field goal on the first possession of the game.

Both teams scored touchdowns on fumble returns. 

Cleveland came out with a plan to dink and dunk the ball all over the place and it worked.  For the first time this preseason the first stringers lost their portion of the game.

The encouraging thing was that the Lions came out in the second half and put up a touchdown on their first drive.  That drive was capped on a goal line score by Kevin Smith. Stafford threw for 49 yards on the drive and the touchdown was setup by an interference call in the end zone.

That was the last drive by the first team as the backups took over at that point.  The Lions won the battle of the backups with Aaron Brown and Shawn Hill leading the way.

The Good

Jahvid Best

Three weeks in a row Best has occupied a spot in “the good” section of the MMQB.  From what he has shown so far, I believe this will continue throughout the regular season.

Two plays 61 yards, enough said.  I am sure the Ford Field crowd would have liked to see Best for a few more plays, but with a tight hamstring head coach Jim Schwartz made the wise choice of resting Best the rest of the night. 

The Offensive line

Once again Stafford was not sacked. The first string offensive line has allowed one sack this preseason, courtesy of right tackle Jon Jansen.  Stafford said after the game that he has only hit the ground three times this preseason.

Willie Young

The rookie seventh round pick wasn’t supposed to be this good, at least not yet. Destined for the practice squad at the start of training camp, the young man is fighting his way onto the roster. Twice in two weeks he has forced a sack and fumble late in the game. 

It is important to realize that he is playing against third stringers but football is football and he is doing what is being asked of him.

The bad

Kevin Smith

Earlier I posted an article about Smith and his struggles. You can read it here,http://bleacherreport.com/articles/445676-detroit-lions-roster-is-it-time-to-cut-ties-with-kevin-smith. He struggled and showed exactly why the Lions chose to draft Best.

Fellow Bleacher Report contributor Pancho Smith also wrote an article about Smith. He had a different slant than I did. I suggest you check it out, I found it to be a very interesting read.  Follow this link, http://bleacherreport.com/articles/446159-is-kevin-smith-still-a-good-fit-in-detroit.

The Linebackers

Injuries and bad play are starting to pile up for this linebacker unit. With backup middle linebacker Jordon Dizon already on IR, the Lions have now lost their starter at the position: DeAndre Levy.

Zach Follett is still having his struggles and Julian Peterson has been fairly quite this preseason. To be fair Peterson will be used differently once the regular season starts.

Early word out of Allen Park this morning is that the Lions are going to sign veteran linebacker Rocky Boiman. Boiman shouldn’t need long to get up to speed as he has played for both Schwartz and defensive coordinator Gunther Cunningham.

The Pass Rush

After two week of domination the defensive line was neutralized by Cleveland’s game plan on Saturday.  Cleveland went with a hurry up no huddle offense to keep the crew off balance.  They used plenty of three step drops and short passes to keep QB Jake Delhomme upright.  Delhomme also went with a hard count on many occasions in order to slow down the rush.

This is not unexpected and is not a knock on the defensive line. This is exactly what they are going to face during the regular season. It is up to the linebackers and defensive backs to make plays and keep those short passes to 2-3 yard gains instead of allowing 6-7 yards.

The quick passing game has the same desired effect of the pass rush getting to the quarterback. The idea is to keep the amount of time the secondary has to cover to a minimum.

That said, the defensive linemen need to cut down on their penalties.

The Ugly

Ndamukong Suh

Before the mob finds its way to my house to try to burn me at the stake for questioning the great one, please let me explain.  What Suh did to Delhomme was uncalled for and ugly. 

Grabbing his face mask, his head, and then trying to screw him into the ground after Delhomme had already released the ball was uncalled for.  I am all for hard hits on a quarterback, but Delhomme could have really gotten hurt.

Before you write your comments below about how it wasn’t that bad, just imagine if Stafford received that kind of treatment and how up in arms you would all be about it.

 Misleading Stat of the Day:

The final score

It is always nice to win in the NFL, preseason or not, but the final score here is not indicative of some of the concerns that the Lions have.

The defense really needs to pick its play up. The ray of hope here is that the outside linebackers, Peterson and Follett, both would be better if given the chance to go after the quarterback. The defense isn’t showing much here and they are definitely holding these two players back. Detroit fans have to hope that they come through when their number is called.

Play of the Day

If you are expecting Best’s 51-yard run here then guess again, right player but wrong play. His 10-yard reception was a thing of beauty. 

Best caught a pass from Stafford in the flat and was set up by Browns linebacker Kaluka Maiava to be held to a short two yard gain. Best made a move and Maiava missed the tackle. The play went for 10 yards and a first down.

Quote of the Day

“Keep 9 clean, give 44 a crease, and things can happen” – Dominique Raiola.

Random Thoughts

This is not breaking news, but boy Calvin Johnson is good.

The Stafford – Sanchez comparisons are going to end this year. Both will show what they really are. Stafford will continue to develop into the superstar that he is, while Sanchez will be exposed for the average quarterback that he is.

Anybody hear Rob Sims’ name? I haven’t. This is good news for Lion fans, if an offensive lineman is not mentioned he is doing his job.

If the Lions manage eight wins this year, does Martin Mayhew get votes for executive of the year?

Overall Impression

In the words of former NFL coach Denis Green, "they are who we thought they were."  The offense is good, the defense is not, what else can anyone really say.

The backend of the defense needs a lot of work.

Next Week

Is there a bigger waste of time than the forth preseason game?  I see flu like symptoms in the future of many of the Lions’ starters next week. 

For those of you that care the Lions will play the Buffalo Bills.