Following their defeat to the New England Patriots on Friday, here are five of the Detroit Lions whom I believed roared the loudest in their third preseason contest.
On Friday night, the Detroit Lions faced off against the reigning Super Bowl champions, the New England Patriots, at Ford Field. The Lions were coming off two preseason victories over the Indianapolis Colts and the New York Jets, so facing the Patriots was expected to be a true measuring stick for their team.
It was the third preseason matchup for both squads, which is widely known as the “dress rehearsal game” in which a majority of the starters on both sides play significant minutes.
Unfortunately, the Lions’ first team struggled against the Patriots starters, as New England scored 24 unanswered points to start the contest. Detroit put their first points on the board right before the end of the second quarter and a majority of their failed comeback came in the second half against lesser talent.
Still, the Lions were able to take the lead near the end of the fourth quarter and make a game of it. But the Patriots struck back, nailing a 45-yard field goal to seal the victory with two seconds left on the clock.
Although fans should certainly be concerned how both the Lions’ offense and defense were dominated in the first half by the reigning champs, they should also be happy with how the backups played and the fact Detroit still has some time to correct their issues.
Despite the loss, there were several Detroit players who performed very well against the Patriots. In the following pages, I’ll highlight my top five Lions that I think roared the loudest against New England on Friday night.