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The eight things we learned Friday night about the Detroit Lions

By Ash Thompson

OAKLAND, CA - AUGUST 10: Head coach Matt Patricia of the Detroit Lions looks on from the sidelines against the Oakland Raiders during the second quarter of an NFL preseason football game at Oakland Alameda Coliseum on August 10, 2018 in Oakland, California. (Photo by Thearon W. Henderson/Getty Images)
OAKLAND, CA - AUGUST 10: Head coach Matt Patricia of the Detroit Lions looks on from the sidelines against the Oakland Raiders during the second quarter of an NFL preseason football game at Oakland Alameda Coliseum on August 10, 2018 in Oakland, California. (Photo by Thearon W. Henderson/Getty Images) /
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What we saw from the offense

Both LeGarrette Blount (five carries for 21 yards) and Ameer Abdullah (four carries for 16 yards) were over four yards per carry. Abdullah looked better than he has since 2016. He scored the Lions first touchdown of the preseason.

The Lions quarterbacks were terrible. Matt Cassel (4.5 yards per passing attempt) stared receivers down, held the ball too long and even walked right into a sack before giving way to Jake Rudock (4.4 yards per passing attempt).

Rudock showed how weak his arm is, hanging the ball in the air long enough that even on short passes the majority of his receivers had no chance to make plays. Rudock even got pulled for the Lions fourth quarter two-minute offense reps. The Lions will have to consider making a move at the backup quarterback position. I do not recall having been less impressed with two quarterbacks.

The moment Lions fans have been waiting for came in the third quarter.  Kerryon Johnson took over in the Lions backfield for multiple drives. Please take everything written about Johnson with a grain of salt. He was playing against the Raiders third and fourth stringers.

Johnson looked really good. He was, without a doubt, the best player on the field. A second round pick should look that way though when playing against a bunch of tomato cans. It is still encouraging that he did. Johnson (seven carries for 49 yards, even with a 57 yard gain called back on a penalty) gave Lions fans a reason to keep watching. He led the team in rushing and receiving yardage.

For some reason, the same day Derrius Guice was lost to the Washington Redskins. the Lions kept Johnson in the game right to the bitter end. For the Zach Zenner truthers that are still out there, there is a good chance that Double Z’s terrible play is the reason.

It looked like Zenner was wearing the wrong shoes for the Oakland Athletics infield. His footing was comically bad. Their stadium situation is the reason that soon we will be calling the team the Las Vegas Raiders. The field was a joke and will make any real assessment of many plays impossible.

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