Detroit Lions 2017 preseason opener: Halftime rapid reactions

Some quick thoughts and rapid reactions on what took place in the first half of the Detroit Lions‘ 2017 preseason opener against the Indianapolis Colts.

The Lions head to the halftime locker room with a 17-3 lead over the Indianapolis Colts in the 2017 preseason opener. Here are some things that stuck out to me in the first half.

• The first series may have ended poorly with an interception but the offensive line did a nice job to give Matthew Stafford time on the previous two pass attempts.
• The revamped linebacker corps was one of the things a lot of fans probably most wanted to see and it didn’t take long to see the improvement. Jarrad Davis made a stop for a short gain on first down and provided tight coverage on tight end Jack Doyle on an incompletion on third down. It was Antwione Williams showcasing his improvement on second down as he stopped Doyle for a short gain after a completed pass.
• The Lions were already thin at defensive end and it looks like they got a lot thinner with Kerry Hyder going down with what looked like a bad injury. The way he reacted didn’t look good as he grabbed at the back of his leg in the area of the Achilles tendon.
• There were some bright spots at defensive end, however. In particular, Anthony Zettel had himself a good first half by constantly showing up in the play whether it be against the run or putting pressure on the quarterback. He looks like a legitimate contributor even if Hyder doesn’t have to miss an extended period of time.
• The biggest bright spot was wide receiver Kenny Golladay, who turned a solid camp into a brilliant preseason debut. Golladay made a pair of tough touchdown catches in which he showed great body control and awareness. He may be a rookie but he looked like a veteran in the first half.
• A’Shawn Robinson also deserves some heavy praise for his play. He showed an ability to impact the passing game even when he can’t get to the quarterback last season by getting his hands up to bat balls and that skill was on full display with two deflections in the first half. Perhaps even more encouraging was his ability to collapse the pocket leading to a sack. The Lions have lacked that kind of presence with any consistency since the departure of Ndamukong Suh.
• Michael Roberts has a chance to contribute at tight end as a rookie but that will be severely limited if he can’t improve his ball security. Roberts had a drop and a fumble that was negated because forward progress was stopped, then ended his first half by having the ball knocked loose as he was going out of bounds.

Next: How to watch the Lions during the preseason

Stay tuned and I’ll be back with more instant analysis after the second half.