Detroit Lions vs Jacksonville Jaguars: The Good and The Bad

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The Bad

Aug 3, 2013; Metairie, LA, USA; A detail of an officials flag during a scrimmage for the New Orleans Saints at the team training facility. Mandatory Credit: Derick E. Hingle-USA TODAY Sports

Penalties

The Lions continue to do themselves no favors as they rack up back-breaking penalties. the Lions committed 14 penalties in all Friday night. But the ones that stuck out the most were the ones that followed big plays. Ameer Abdullah had a nice pass out of the back field wiped away by a holding call and Isa Abdul-Quddus lost out on an interception due to an illegal contact penalty. The Lions must remedy this ailment and do it fast as the regular season is not as forgiving as the preseason.

Lack of starters showed

As I mentioned earlier, the Lions were missing six of their front seven on Friday night. Five were out with injuries or precautions and Tahir Whitehead worked with the reserves to give Travis Lewis some time with the starters. Lewis certainly looked out of sorts as Blake Bortles picked on the linebacker corps all night long for 245 yards and a touchdown.

The most frustrating thing was that the Jaguars were pretty vanilla all night. Run, run, pass was pretty much their game plan. That game plan burned the Lions on almost every single third down that Bortles was under center. The Lions defense never seemed to pick up on what the Jaguars were laying down and they continued to let them have their way over the middle.

The good news on this is that this obviously wasn’t the Lions first team defense. Missing six of eleven starters would set even the greatest team back. The Lions should be at full strength for the first time in 2015 come week one.

Kellen Moore

Kellen Moore may be playing his final snaps for the Detroit Lions next Thursday. That’ of course if he can get past the first wave of cuts this coming Tuesday. The former Boise State quarterback and preseason legend went one for one of one for six yards Friday night and had little to do with the Lions final drive.

I hate to see it happen to such a professional, but Moore did himself no favors in camp and in the preseason. Lions fans will soon know what happens. But I can tell you that 13 of 25 for 104 yards and an interception in the preseason is not going to cut it.

Commentators

Aug 8, 2015; Canton, OH, USA; Dan Fouts during the 2015 Pro Football Hall of Fame enshrinement at Tom Benson Hall of Fame Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports

CBS comentators Dan Fouts and Kevin Harlan were in off-season form Friday night. Where do I start? They referred to James Ihedigbo as “Ihedigboo” all night for starters. This guy has been in the NFL since 2007. How can you get this name wrong? They also referred to Jeremy Ross as Tandon Doss, mentioned how Matthew stafford is looking forward to getting Julius Thomas back and credited Tahir Whitehead for leading the Lions in tackles in 2014, completely ignoring one of the best linebackers in the league DeAndre Levy who finished second in the NFL in tackles.

Something tells me they would have called him DeAndre Leevee if they would have remembered. Step your game up CBS.

Mike Payton is an Editor at SideLion Report. He is from Holland, Michigan by way of Warren, Michigan. He considers himself to be obsessed with the Detroit Lions. Mike’s work has been featured on ESPN Radio, Fox Sports Radio, CBS Sports Radio and si.com. Mike is also a recurring guest on It is what is with Sean Baligian on ESPN 96.1. Follow Mike Payton on Twitter @SLR_Mike

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