Detroit Lions: What we learned under the Friday night lights

The biggest thing that had to pop off the screen for Lions fans at home was the play of Kerryon Johnson. He was very good and should have all those Honolulu Blue and Silver fans thinking; 100-yard rushing game.

I heard the remark on the radio Friday afternoon, long before the Lions kicked off in Oakland, that the one thing this personality wanted to see was Kerryon Johnson have a carry of over 10 yards to give him hope for the coming season.

I understand the thought process but felt it was a little short-sighted. What I wanted was to see what Johnson averaged per carry for the evening. I thought that if he could average about five yards a carry, I would definitely be satisfied.

He finished the evening with seven carries for 34 yards, which averaged a very respectable 4.85 yards a carry or only one yard overall away from averaging 5.0 yards a carry.

He displayed patience as a runner and the ability to break tackles. Given the opportunity to get enough carries in the opener against the New York Jets, he may actually get that long awaited 100-yard game.

We should also give kudos to Ameer Abdullah who hasn’t felt sorry for himself or just crawled into a hole to die. He ran the ball well and scored the teams only touchdown. In a system where Matt Patricia wants to run the ball by committee, Abdullah made a good case for himself to be in the mix.

And finally, despite not being able to apply much pressure early, the defensive starters that did play were effective. In Oakland’s first two offensive series, the defense may not have won any style points, but they did their job and kept the Raiders out of the end zone.

In the end that is the goal and the starters accomplished it.

The preseason is sort of a fluid time. Teams find out where they are in their opener and try to build on it. For the Lions, there are certainly things to work on and improvements to be made, but they were not over-matched by the Raiders in the talent department nor did they back down in way shape or form.

That’s an acceptable starting place. Now we need to see these Lions take the necessary steps needed to improve and give themselves a chance to be competitive when the regular season begins for them on Monday, September 10th.

Next Friday the New York Giants and rookie running back sensation Saquan Barkley will invade Ford Field and give Matt Patricia and his troops that opportunity to take the next step.