Lions Preseason Week-1 in 2010

I know. The preseason doesn't count. It does not matter if the Lions win or lose each game in the preseason. But the truth is, the preseason is not necessarily pointless.

There are things one can take out of the preseason games. We can get a flash peek at certain individuals. A small look at particular units. This is what I saw in the game. At least up until CBS lost its signal. Which was before the lightning postponed the game.

Matthew Stafford gave me hope. There were again some short routes he was off on. One of which was thrown too high to Jahvid Best and ricocheted off of the rookie running backs hands for an interception. Twice he under-threw Calvin Johnson in the endzone and forced the giant receiver to play defensive back to save him from interceptions. Yet for the most part, Stafford showed decent touch on his passes and accuracy. If he continues to play this way, he just may turn out to be as good as hoped.

Jahvid Best gives me hope. With 7 carries in the first quarter, Best racked off 36 yards. That is more than 5 yards per carry. He showed his speed as he sped around the corner for over ten yards on one particular run. Yet his most impressive run was a run between the tackles. After taking the hand-off, Best found himself face to face with two Steelers and came to a dead stop, spun away and ran away from them. A play in which he should have been dropped for a loss, he took for a few yards gain.

The receivers all did well. Calvin Johnson showed his usual great abilities and brought in a touchdown, but it was the consistent production from Bryant Johnson and Nate Burleson that made me smile.

Though, if you want to talk about reasons to smile, lets mention that the cornerbacks and linebackers were almost invisible to me. The reason that is worth smiling about is it means the Detroit Lions defensive line looked as impressive as expected. More so.

After the Lions went 4 and out in their first drive, the Steelers started at their own 49 yard line. From that point on, the Detroit Lions defensive line controlled the game while their starting unit was on the field. Suh was taking on double teams while Vanden Bosch and Cliff Avril were all over the quarterback. If this was a preview of what we can expect from the front line, the Lions defense will be a fun one to watch this year.

Again, this could be just a flash in the pan, but it is hard not to get excited when they play as well as they looked today.