5 Winners and 4 losers from Lions vs Giants
The Detroit Lions played their first preseason game on Friday and despite it not being the prettiest game you've ever seen, the Lions walked away with a 21-16 win and there was plenty to take from that. Today I have five winners and four losers. Don't look at this like it's the end of the […]
The Detroit Lions played their first preseason game on Friday and despite it not being the prettiest game you've ever seen, the Lions walked away with a 21-16 win and there was plenty to take from that.
Today I have five winners and four losers. Don't look at this like it's the end of the world. Look at it like I'm Robert California and I've made a list. Winners prove me right and losers prove me wrong.
Let's jump into it with a winner.
Winner: Jack Campbell
Campbell didn't get the start at green dot in his first game. He came in after Derrick Barnes held the role. Still, Campbell more than made his mark on the field in his first game. He led the Lions defense on a drive in the second quarter that saw him make back to back tackles in short yard situations. The second tackle forced a turnover on downs.
Loser: Nate Sudfeld
If anyone needed to have a good game on Friday, it was Nate Sudfeld. While Teddy Bridgewater is with the Lions now, that didn’t mean that Sudfeld couldn’t carve out a role on the Lions. Unfortunately he had a very bad game that saw him throw two interceptions and just generally look off all night. That’s probably going to spell the end of Sudfeld’s time in Detroit.
Winner: Adrian Martinez
Martinez didn’t play nearly as much as Sudfeld did, but he made a big impact on the game. He came in and went 4-7 for 37 yards and ran in the game winning touchdown. He looked poised in the pocket and when things got hectic, he scrambled out and made something of the play. The Lions may not carry three quarterbacks in to the season, but Martinez made a real case for a spot on the teams practice squad.
Loser: Matt Nelson
Nelson came in a played left tackle for much of the game last night and he had a rough outing. On the games first play he got beat hard and it contributed in Sudfled throwing his first interception as he was getting hit. On the Lions second offensive play, he got beat again and it cause Jahmyr Gibbs to get hit in the backfield.
Nelson spent most of the night fighting for his life and he got knocked on his butt multiple times. He did settle in later in the game and was able to play better, but the damage may have been done. Don't be shocked if the Lions try something different along the offensive line this week.
Winner: Jameson Williams
Williams did have a rough drop and I'm sure that everyone will mostly focus on that, but outside of that drop, when the ball actually made it Williams way, he made plays. He had three catches on the night including this nice one handed catch on the two point conversion of Maurice Alexander's punt return touchdown.
Loser: Jameson Williams
Yeah, he’s in both camps. The drop was really bad. It was probably the best ball he got thrown his way all night and could have been a sure touchdown. Williams has to catch that.
With that said, that's not really the big reason why he's in this category. He's here because no favors were done for him on Friday night. He was either underthrown or overthrown. He got targeted seven times in this game. Here's how that laid out.
- Underthrown and intercepted
- Overthrown and off route
- The drop
- Catch for 7-yards
- Underthrown and intercepted
- Caught for 11-yards
- Underthrown and nearly intercepted
Nobody will benefit more from having Teddy Bridgewater here than Williams.
Winner: Maurice Alexander
Justin Jackson’s retirement really shook things up for the Lions. Suddenly the team was in need of a kick returner. Maurice Alexander answered the call with a 95 yard return for a touchdown. He just made an extremely good case for himself to make the 53 man roster for this team. That’s a case he needed to make, because I’m not sure he would have made it a week ago.
Loser: Dylan Drummond
Drummond isn’t here because of Drummond. he’s here because of the thing I’ve been talking about since Jackson’s retirement. If the Lions were to carry six receivers into the season, which is pretty likely, there’s one spot left. You have to show that you can do more than just be a receiver in that spot. Maurice Alexander did that, not Dylan Drummond.
When Justin Jackson was here, the Lions didn't need their sixth receiver to also be their return man. They just needed someone who could go out and be a part of the special teams. Jackson is gone and now they do need a return man. That's not Drummond.
It's not over for him by any means. There's still plenty of camp and two more preseason games to show that he deserves a spot on the roster. We'll soon see if he can make it.
Winner: Julian Okwara
Julian Okwara was a man possessed on Friday night and I love it. I’ve been waiting for Okwara to show me something since the Lions drafted him in the third round of the 2020 NFL Draft. He felt like a steal at the time and that hasn’t really shown to be true so far. On Friday he played his tail off and racked up three sacks. The last one being the sack that set the Giants up for their final play of the game. If he can keep this up, there’s big things coming for him.
Featured image by Junfu Han/Detroit Free Press / USA TODAY NETWORK
