The morning after: 5 Lions takeaways from a rewatch of the Week 1 win

The Rams started the game with both offensive tackles out, and quickly lost their best interior lineman in Steve Avila, too. Instead of trying to ask the backups to handle Aidan Hutchinson, Marcus Davenport and the Lions pass rush, the Rams dictated change.

During the second quarter, an NBC graphic noted that Matthew Stafford got rid of the ball in an average of 2.16 seconds to that point. That’s getting the ball out very fast, and that was a deliberate modification to help protect Stafford.

The Lions defensive reaction was to play more zone coverage than expected. Quick, short throws force the defense to focus on tackling after the catch instead of coverage. It took the Lions corners out of their preferred style. Overall, the Lions secondary and LBs handled it very well–notably LB Alex Anzalone and his 13 tackles (I saw one missed tackle too).

Hutchinson and Davenport each hit Stafford repeatedly, even with the Rams getting the ball out a lot faster than normal. That’s very encouraging for the Lions. Davenport showed both power and bend on the edge, an element the Lions just haven’t had with the Okwara brothers or James Houston, who was a healthy scratch despite the Rams’ major injury issues.

Not one Lions starter on offense in Week 1 played a single snap during the preseason. It showed, notably with the highly-touted offensive line.

Newcomer Kevin Zeitler definitely looked like he hadn’t played in some time. The veteran right guard has been notable throughout his lengthy career for not having bad plays, but he had a few against the Rams. The lack of cohesion with Zeitler at RG and Graham Glasgow shifting to the unfamiliar LG spot got exposed by a quick, well-coordinated Rams front.

The best way to help a line get settled in is to run the ball. Offensive coordinator Ben Johnson got away from that after the half, and it helped the Rams young front gain confidence. It feels even more like a tactical error on Johnson’s part in watching it play out again. Montgomery was effective early and then disappeared from the game plan for far too long.

The Rams defense did a fantastic job of clogging the middle of the field, which is where Jared Goff and Amon-Ra St. Brown shine brightest. It’s hard to see the safeties and far-side corner from the broadcast view, but when replays showed the wider angle, the Rams played a lot of bracketing concepts in the middle of the field. Give their rookie defensive coordinator Chris (grandson of Don) Shula credit for a very strong game plan.

The counter to that was Jameson Williams facing a lot of single coverage on the outside, and Goff smartly attacked the vulnerability. Williams had the game of his young career with nearly as many yards by himself as the Chicago Bears gained as an entire offense on Sunday.

This was the Jamo we saw most of the summer. Confident, precise, impactful. It was great to see it carry over into a meaningful game. The Lions have a serious commitment to Williams as the No. 2 wide receiver and that commitment was rewarded in the Week 1 win.

One of the biggest defensive changes for Detroit is moving Brian Branch to a full-time safety role in his second season. Branch primarily played in the slot as a rookie and thrived. His transition back to the role he played at Alabama showed some growing pains in Week 1.

Some of that is to be expected. Branch didn’t play at all in the preseason and also missed some time with a minor injury–as did everyone else in the overhauled secondary. Communication issues and coverage gaffes are going to be part of that process, unfortunately. That proved very true on Sunday night.

What shouldn’t change for Branch is his stellar tackling. He was one of the NFL’s best open-field tacklers as a rookie. Against the Rams, Branch missed four tackle opportunities. It will probably only show as two misses when the PFF stats come out, but that’s because PFF doesn’t credit a missed tackle if the defender never touches the ball carrier. Branch had two bad missed opportunities. On the second one, reserve LB Malcolm Rodriguez raced past him some 35 yards down the field to help clean up the miss.

Branch did break up three passes. Two of those should have been interceptions, however. Whether it was rust or position change or an off night, or a motley combination of all three, this is a game No. 32 won’t enjoy rewatching in the film room.

–It was fun to see a lot of the plays and concepts the Lions worked on all summer in practices get implemented into game conditions. They didn’t all work as expected, but it reinforces that the Lions are practicing the right way.

–Rookie CB Ennis Rakestraw ruined a perfect punt by Jack Fox by being unable to hit the brakes and booting a ball that should have been downed inside the 3-yard line into the end zone. Those bonus yards for the Rams led to a field goal. I hadn’t tracked the ensuing drive outcome during the live game. You can bet ST Coordinator Dave Fipp knew it.

–Jake Bates had a very strong NFL debut. His kickoffs were something of an adventure over the summer but he was on point in Week 1. Was elated to see him reward the trust of his coaching staff, which is not easily earned. UDFA long snapper Hogan Hatten was perfect, too.

–In real-time, I thought the first pass interference penalty on rookie CB Terrion Arnold was bad but the second one was a more legit call. After watching them again, I’ll flip my take. Those two penalties led to 10 Rams points, though the first one was on a drive that was almost certainly going to end in a field goal anyway.

–I counted seven slips or loss of footing by Lions offensive players in the second half. Didn’t notice any in the first half.There’s a press conference question for Dan Campbell…