Detroit Lions: What makes a perfect second preseason game?

Defense, holes, and depth

The defense had key players who did not play against the Raiders; Ezekiel Ansah, mainly, has not seen action, yet. The defense overall did not do a great job of stopping big plays and made former Spartan, Connor Cook, look like he was back in the Rose Bowl for an encore appearance.

Many Detroit Lions writers and pundits have cautioned about reading too much into the vanilla performance by the defense, which seemed unable to win individual matchups and get pressure.

The Lions defense also allowed the Raiders’ quarterbacks as a whole to earn a 90.9 passer rating, not exactly stellar.

The run defense gave up 147 yards rushing, including 86 (on 13 carries) to rookie Chris Warren alone. Those kinds of trends cannot continue. Saquon Barkley is likely going to sit out this week due to a hamstring pull, but the Detroit defense still has to be more stout against the Giants’ runners.

Another big issue is working towards settling who the starters are at strong safety and second cornerback. After Darius Slay and Glover Quin, the back-end of the defense has been shaky.

Nevin Lawson, DeShawn Shead, and Jalen “Teez” Tabor have all had turns running with the starters this offseason. The sooner a man stakes his claim to that spot, the better off the Lions will be. Lately, it has been Lawson looking to assert himself.

Quandre Diggs has been the starting strong safety since being moved midseason 2017. It seems like a natural fit, and the Lions seemed to find more turnovers and be tougher in coverage with him there. Former starter (and now healthy), Tavon Wilson, is still in the mix, however.