Thoughts From Preseason Game Number 1

The Lions played their first preseason game of the season this weekend.  And what did we learn?  That the weather sucks in Pittsburgh and preseason football is pretty bad.

I was impressed with the Lion's starting defense especially Vanden Bosch and Avril.  Sure, Leftwich is as mobile as the Statue Of Liberty but we need to generate a pass rush badly.  Randy Phillips made some nice plays as an undrafted rookie and could find himself on the roster very soon.  Can't Cover Brown and Marvin White need to start showing they can start or its going to be a mess.  The backups played all right, Landon Cohen had 2 penalties on him, which could be big when we are trimming down the deep defensive line depth.

Amari Spievey made a pretty bad play giving up a long touchdown to Arnaz Battle.  I know Spievey has been hurt, but when was the last time Arnaz Battle beat someone?

Derrick Williams messed up another special teams play again, taking a stupid fair catch near the goal line that backed the Lions up.  I really don't think he'll make the team with special team play.  With Tim Toone, Jahvid Best and Dennis Northcutt available to return kicks, either Williams will be a slot receiver or looking for a job.  He did have a solid catch and more upside than Northcutt.  Toone didn't screw up returning kicks, but didn't impress a lot.  He still has 3 games to go. 

Stafford looked very sharp and healthy.  At the end of the season last year he was so hurt we really didn't see all of his talent.  His accuracy has improved and he played very well.  The TD throw was nice, and the interception was half on Best and half on Stafford.  Best should have made the catch, but the throw wasn't spectacular.  Still, if Stafford does this every week I'll be very satisfied.  Jahvid Best made a couple of very nice runs.  The starting offense looks solid without a lot of starters playing. 

Dizon got hurt on a nasty hit and could miss the entire season.  Smith and Pettigrew both missed time, as did many Lions starters.  What did we learn?  The team should be better this season and the second year players could really make a jump.  But the biggest part of football is consistency.  Lets see if these players can impress again and again.