The Detroit Lions have played two NFL preseason games. They’ve lost both and mostly haven’t looked good in either loss, especially in the first half of their 26-20 loss to the host Pittsburgh Steelers on Saturday.
Don’t bother getting too caught up in the scores. It’s the substance of those losses that matters more, because the preseason is mostly an evaluative tool for coaches who have to cut their training camp rosters nearly in half by the time the season starts.
So what have we learned? Three things mainly.
First, the Lions have little chance of being good or surprising anyone this season.
Second, they don’t have much depth and their young players are going to struggle.
Third, the coaching staff might have more promise than we expected.
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All of that adds up to a simple equation: This rebuild is going to take some time, in case anyone had delusions of a quick fix.
For the second week, players made too many fundamental mistakes and blew easy plays on both sides of the ball.
Starting quarterback Tim Boyle had a terrible game in Pittsburgh. He early threw two interceptions and was sometimes too late throwing the ball or inaccurate.
Linebacker Jalen Reeves-Maybin was equally bad on defense, making numerous mistakes in coverage and blowing a sure-fire sack.
The defense gave up some huge plays, allowing passes of more than 40 yards on consecutive drives, once when cornerback Jeff Okudah — a prime player the Lions are counting on to steady their secondary — was torched by Diontae Johnson on a go route, and another time when Jahlani Tavai got beat in coverage and Austin Bryant failed to set the edge.
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Even when things did look hopeful Saturday, it came with a feeling of dissatisfaction. Rookie linebacker Derrick Barnes, a fourth-round pick from Purdue, has had good moments in training camp. He had a late sack but also let an easy interception on a pass by Mason Rudolph slip through his fingers. The would have taken three points off the board.
Barnes said this about his blown pick: “It’s like layups. You’ve got to make your layups.”
That’s going to be the issue with the Lions, as it is with any rebuilding team. They’ll be bad because they’ll struggle to execute the simple things when those opportunities present themselves. It’s scary to think about how they’ll deal with the extreme challenges presented by players like Aaron Rodgers, Khalil Mack and Aaron Donald.
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But Barnes said something else that was encouraging. He credited his coaches, by which he likely meant defensive coordinator Aaron Glenn, for putting him in the right position to get an interception and a sack.
Likewise, offensive coordinator Anthony Lynn couldn’t get the most out of Boyle against the Steelers, but he was able to call enough plays to put David Blough in position to move the offense and score 20 points in the fourth quarter, with the help of bubble players like Tom Kennedy and Godwin Igwebuike.
Coach Dan Campbell was clearly unhappy coming out of halftime, calling his team “uncompetitive.” And that was a nice way of putting it. The Lions were annihilated in every meaningful category and trailed, 20-0, at the half. Yes, they rested key starters Jared Goff, T.J. Hockenson, D’Andre Swift, Frank Ragnow, Taylor Decker and Romeo Okwara.
The Steelers took the opposite tack, playing Ben Roethlisberger most of the first quarter and some starters played into the third quarter. It’s the Steelers’ only preseason game at Heinz Field, so it’s hard to blame them for giving their fans more bang for their buck in their one home game.
The Lions will play their final game of the preseason against the Indianapolis Colts on Friday at Ford Field. Campbell has said he expects to rest key starters. So it’s likely we’ll see young players get chances to learn lessons.
But even if we don’t see key starters again until the season opener Sept. 12 vs. San Francisco, we don’t need to learn much more about this team that several weeks of training camp and two exhibitions haven’t already told us. This is not a team full of stars or even enough depth to make up for young veterans who struggle with fundamental plays while rookies learn the ropes.
Campbell was more hopeful and positive after the game, praising his team for fighting back in the second half. With most of the preseason over, I get the feeling the small victories of second-half charges and good individual efforts will be a theme throughout this Lions season that serves as a building block for the future.
Contact Carlos Monarrez at cmonarrez@freepress.com and follow him on Twitter @cmonarrez.