The Detroit Lions just completed the first preseason of the year against the Buffalo Bills. With the game taking place, some players played well and some did not. Lions Offensive line and QB Jared Goff had mixed performances. The Lions Defensive line showed a good performance putting pressure on all the Bills quarterbacks. The Lions rookie LB Derrick Barnes was impressive in his debut. Mike Kimber breaks down what occurred in preseason week 1 and gives his winners and losers for the game.
First things first, let’s not overreact to Jamaal Williams’ performance in Friday’s matchup with the Bills. Many view Williams as a dependable complement to Detroit’s backfield and racking up just 15 yards on nine carries shouldn’t change that. Oftentimes, it looked like Williams was meeting contact before or at the line of scrimmage, so let’s reserve judgment until Detroit’s front line cleans it up in the run game.
When Jeremy and I previewed this week’s preseason opener against the Bills on First Byte, we both felt like the Lions were set at running back. D’Andre Swift sat out for maintenance purposes after getting dinged up in the early parts of training camp and rookie Jermar Jefferson’s ankle injury ultimately ended up not keeping him out of action, but those two seemed like roster locks as RB1 and RB3 respectively—especially Swift, obviously.
After watching the way Detroit’s depth at running back ran the ball, maybe it’s time to reconsider how solidified that RB3 spot is at the moment. After all, Jefferson is a rookie, and running for just 7 yards on four carries in your NFL debut certainly doesn’t inspire confidence—especially when you consider the way Craig Reynolds and Dedrick Mills took advantage of their opportunities on Friday.
Combined, the two backs ran for 81 yards on 11 carries with Reynolds being the story of the night—the newcomer to the Lions’ running back room this week was literally introducing himself to his teammates in the huddle.
Wide receivers – C-
For Detroit’s wideouts, a position group completely overhauled from a season ago, there was a sense of relief to see some of the team’s top receivers in action Friday night, especially when you consider their solid play.
Tyrell Williams, after missing the 2020 season, showed up ready to assume his role as Detroit’s No. 1 wide receiver. Williams looked controlled in his route running, made some key catches during his time on the field, and would have had an opportunity to put the exclamation point on the team’s second drive had he not been interfered with on a pass to him in the end zone.
Source:
Ryan Matthews, Pride Of Detroit
Home for Detroit Lions news & rumors, free agency, NFL Draft, and Roster discussion, Detroit Lions Talk with MicroMike is a channel dedicated to all things Detroit sports. We’re bringing you factual, in-depth analysis for your Detroit Lions. If you want your Detroit fix, this is the channel for you – click that SUBSCRIBE button, or click here:
You can also support us by joining the channel membership! Get exclusive Detroit Lions videos, mailbags & more when you join:
MicroMike is a Detroit Lions content creator who brings factual & statistical analysis, going against legacy main stream media. I’m looking to bring a non-biased view for OnePride nation. Part of the Infinite Sports Network where we talk about all sports endlessly.
MicroMike is on social media too:
You can follow me on News Break
Want more NFL news & rumors? Check out Chat Sports:
#Lions #LionsPreseason #LionsVsBills
This article was gathered automatically by our news bot. We help YouTubers by driving traffic to them for free. The featured image in this article is the thumbnail of the embedded video.
