Detroit Lions: What we learned under the Friday night lights

The Detroit Lions opened the exhibition season in Oakland and provided their fans with some hope, but they also didn’t dispel many concerns.

After a week of working out in Oakland, California and even a couple days of shared practice with the Raiders, the Detroit Lions opened the 2018 exhibition season in Oakland’s black hole.

The first preseason game is usually not a work of art and between starters not playing much, if at all, a new defensive system and many players just trying to make the squad, this one was no different.

It’s way too early to come to any conclusions, but I will whole-heartedly agree with head coach Matt Patricia’s assessment of the contest; there is still much work to be done.

Hey, even Stevie Wonder could see that.

Yet as we sift through the remains of this first contest there are some things that do stand out. Things that will definitely be noted by Patricia and his staff and we as spectators couldn’t help but to notice as well.

Let’s start by laying the groundwork for the observations we are about to go through.

First, we all need to remember that from an offensive standpoint, this offense will never look the same without Matthew Stafford in the lineup. It was no surprise that Patricia decided to keep him safe on the sidelines.

In a meaningless exhibition game that is only crucial to players trying to learn the Lions system and make the team, it was the right move to sit Stafford down and make sure they avoid any freak accident that could occur.

Obviously, Stafford will need to get some preseason reps to make sure he is ready for the opener against the Jets, but skipping this game was a good move.

It should also be mentioned that Ezekiel Ansah sitting out was another good move, but it did also deprive the Lions of their best pass-rusher. A move that was noticeable, but again the right one.

Having established that, let’s examine some things that legitimately need work.