Detroit Lions preseason Week 1: 5 observations from the 21-16 win over the Giants
By Zach Payne
Detroit Lions football is back, to some degree. In Fridy night's preseason opener, they beat the New York Giants by a score of 21-16.
As is the case with preseason openers, the second and third teams saw a lot of playing time with only a handful of starters seeing action in this game. However, there were a number of interesting battles that played out on Friday night. One preseason game is not the end all be all, but players stood out for both positive and negative reasons against the Giants.
Here are a couple of observations from the preseason opener:
5 observations from Detroit Lions preseason opener vs. Giants
1. Nate Sudfeld’s time on this roster is coming to an end
The writing was on the wall when the Lions signed Teddy Bridgewater. But Sudfeld still had a chance to prove himself on Friday night. Unfortunately, it didn't go well.
The offensive line did not do him any favors (more on that later), but Sudfeld was lackluster in the three quarters he appeared in. He failed to sense pressure, he was wildly inaccurate on too many throws, and his decision-making was downright awful at times.
He threw two interceptions when targeting Jameson Williams, on throws that never should have been made in the first place. In both instances, Williams was covered by multiple defenders, and Sudfeld didn’t give him a chance to even make a catch either time. From all angles, it was a disappointing performance from Sudfeld.
2. The second team offensive line gives cause for alarm
It has been well established there is a significant drop off from the Lions' starting offensive line to the backups,as there would tend to be with one of the best offensive lines in the league. That being said, the offensive lineman that appeared in this game seemed borderline unplayable. Matt Nelson in particular got completely torched on multiple occasions.
If either Penei Sewell or Taylor Decker goes down with an injury this season, look out. The tackle depth is the shaky, and the interior line depth doesn’t seem to be much better.
The poor offensive line play also made it difficult to preoperly evaluate the running backs. On a majority of run plays, the backs were getting hit within a yard of the line of scrimmage. It's hard for any back to stand out in the RB3 battle when they are not put in a position to succeed. The offensive line needs to do a better job creating running lanes.