Notes from Lions’ 30-9 loss to Baltimore Ravens

The Detroit Lions got crushed by the Baltimore Ravens, 30-9, in Saturday’s vaunted 3rd Preseason game.

The Lions’ offensive struggles continued, with Stafford failing to lead the team to a touchdown on five drives. The starting defense was good when Joe Flacco wasn’t beating them with short passes. Neither team looked impressive to start the game, but the Ravens suddenly took over before halftime. The officials killed the Lions fairly, or unfairly. It was a sloppy performance by Detroit in what is supposed to be the one Preseason game teams take seriously. Instead, a lot of the same problems were evident from the start. Here are my notes from the game, organized by position group.

Lions Offense

1st-Team Offense Ameer Abdullah made his Preseason debut, coming out with the with the starters. He was quiet, as was the entire Lions offense to start the game. They weren’t in sync in the passing game and were a non-factor in the running game. Stafford played five drives. The third drive was going well until penalties and a sack killed it yet again. It was another frustrating showing from the starters for most of the first half. The fourth drive was just a terrible showing, ending in a Matthew Stafford interception. The fifth drive Stafford drove them to a field goal attempt, but the group still hasn’t found that elusive first touchdown I wrote about on Thursday.

Quarterbacks Stafford looked rusty to start the first drive. He had time but still made a bad throw that should have been intercepted early. He had a couple of drops as well, but the team looked sloppy to start the game. Stafford accounted for just three points on the first 2 drives. They’ve moved the ball well and stumbled when they are close to the end-zone in all three games now. Stafford looked good on the third drive but got demolished on a first down sack in the red-zone. He followed it up with a bad interception on the next drive. Orlovski came out to start the second half and got off to another slow start. He’s holding onto the ball too long and just overall ineffective. Rudock had a very quiet game. He came in late and failed to do anything to steal that number-two job. Disappointing showing from the QB group.

Running Backs Ameer Abdulah ran for no gain to start the game and dropped a quick WR screen on a ball that just was a tad off target from Stafford. On the second drive, he showed some nice burst, running for 11-yards. He finished the drive off with what would have been a touchdown but was called back on a hold. Theo Riddick had a huge run, making several defenders miss on the third drive of the game. Zach Zenner got going in the second half and brought some sizzle behind what was still mostly the 1st-team offensive line. Just weren’t many holes for the team to run through. Abdullah looked like the clear number-one.

Wide Receivers Golden Tate dropped a pass on the first play of the drive. He responded quickly, drawing a holding call on Jimmy Smith to preserve the first drive. Marvin Jones showed some short and intermediate ability. He ran a beautiful route on a third-down conversion during the team’s second drive, and followed it up with a toe-tapping sideline catch for the third time in three games. Anquan Boldin looked steady against his former team. He caught two straight catches in the red-zone, one for a first down. Tate broke a tackle on a slant that he nearly took to the house. T.J. Jones stood out in the Lions’ insanely competitive receiver battle. Andre Roberts put in another good showing. The depth looks great but they clearly miss a red-zone weapon without Megatron.

Tight Ends Eric Ebron didn’t get out there but Cole Wick continues to get extended time. He’s showed some real improvement in the run-blocking game. He got called for a questionable holding call that took back an Abdullah touchdown run. Wick shows a good ability to make yardage after the catch and did so on a 14-yard gain(that was called back).

Offensive Line Decker got to work against Terrell Suggs. He had a great block, along with Cole Wick to open a nice hole for Ameer Abdullah. When Stafford is decisive, they look fairly good in pass-protection. They have talent no question but that starting group needs to get on the same page and not allow these huge mental lapses that are getting Stafford hit. Reiff continues to quietly adjust to the right side very well. The backups looked worse and the dropoff between the ones and twos was more noticeable than you’d like to see at this point in training camp. The starting group definitely has some good pieces that will no doubt improve.

Lions Defense

1st-Team Defense DeAndre Levy suited up and got his first Preseason reps of the year. He looked good in coverage. Joe Flacco, former Super Bowl MVP, got the start against the Lions starting group. Flacco led the starters down with a few nice passes but stalled in the red-zone, finishing with field goal on their opening drive. The LIons’ defense played well while Flacco was in — which was only a few drives — then greatly let up when Ryan Mallet came in. The depth didn’t look as strong as it has in previous games. You have to be pretty optimistic about the starters with DeAndre Levy back.

Defensive Line Haloti Ngata got to play against his former team. The first-team run defense was solid. They got good pressure on Flacco, he just happened to adjust well, hitting his hot routes. A’Shawn Robinson got out there with the starters and continued to show an ability to push the pocket. Brandon Copeland sniffed out a screen pass for a loss and the entire front-seven got great pressure on a failed third-down conversion against Flacco. Playing against Flacco was really a great test for the Lions’ young front. Ngata got a nice sack on Mallet.

Linebackers DeAndre Levy looked comfortable out there in his first start in quite a while. He blanketed the tight end in coverage on the first drive and was all over running back Kenneth Dixon. Whitehead had a decent showing early also.  Flacco took advantage of the middle of the field early but he’s one of the best in the league.  Whitehead went down with a minor injury and the team immediately gave up a few big plays. Van Noy got great penetration on the Ngata sack in the second quarter. The backups weren’t very good, letting guys get to the second level on multiple occasions. That’s going to happen when you’re top heavy like the Lions are at linebacker. Khaseem Greene recovered a fumble late and almost took it in for a TD.

Secondary The secondary made some plays but looked very young at times. The starters seem as if they’re going to be an above-average group. Lawson and Diggs are going to make mistakes, but both have NFL talent. Having Levy and Whitehead will only help the development of the young guys. Tavon Wilson looked good closing on the ball.  Nevin Lawson got burned a few times by Flacco to start the game, but recovered with a nice deflection to kill the Ravens’ opening drive.  Quandre Diggs made a few nice open-field tackles. Miles Killebrew is a fun player to watch whether he makes the play or not, he flies around like a missile. Rafael Bush only seems to make tackles way down the field. That’s normal for a safety but he doesn’t look to have great instincts in diagnosing the play. Backups were below average and the Ravens’ depth looked superior.

Special Teams Dwayne Washington had another nice return. He looks explosive and has good vision returning kicks. T.J. Jones got a shot at returning but his impressive return was taken away by the Lions’ seventh penalty of the night. Matt Prater went two-of-three in the first half on field goals, including a 60-yarder before halftime. Prater has shown he has one of the strongest legs in the league. Jace Billingsley had a decent return late in the 4th-quarter.