The ten things we learned about the Detroit Lions in the Giants game

They are who we thought they were

Jarrad Davis continued to show us that his DNA as a player. He opened the game with beautiful run fills for lost yardage. He personally stopped the Giants first drive in its tracks. Unfortunately, he then got burned for an early second-quarter touchdown pass. Wayne Gallman is a fairly athletic player, but on that play, he looked like Riddick. It was the only touchdown either team managed while the starters were on the field.

Jarrad Davis is looking like Ogletree might be the ceiling for the Lions middle linebackers play in the league. That’s not a bad player to emulate, but it’s not ideal for such a highly drafted player. Davis is clearly at his best moving toward a tackle in the running game. Unless the Lions can protect him in the passing game, they may need to take him off the field.

Christian Jones showed Lions fans what they can expect from him too. He looked beat on a sharp inside cut by Gallman two plays before the touchdown but simply reached out, wrapped up the runner and made the tackle. He is a solid, if unspectacular, addition to the team.

Devon Kennard took Erik Flowers‘ lunch money. Flowers, who gave up three sacks to Ziggy Ansah last year, is not a good offensive tackle. It was good to see the Lions newest pass rusher look much better after a second week of practice, and against beatable competition. The Lions pass rush looked a lot better this week.

Those are very clearly the Lions three best linebackers. Jalen Reeves-Maybin, however, may end up taking Davis’ nickel snaps if lapses in coverage continue to plague him. The team leaders in snaps will be Jones, Davis, and Kennard barring injuries, however.

The entire Lions secondary was aggressive and effective. The starters handled their business for the most part. The score did not get out of hand until after halftime. Players whose names we don’t have to look up did their jobs. Even as the second stringers were in, it was not the Teez Tabors of the world who gave up 20 second-half points. The guys who will never see the field in a regular season game were the problem.

Nevin Lawson got the start as the number two corner. The Giants have smaller receivers, and Lawson’s athleticism is a better matchup that Deshawn Shead. This is likely something that will continue into the regular season. Shead did not play

Darius Slay was a man on fire early on. He had three pass breakups before his night ended. Big Play Slay lived up to the hype with two of those breakups coming in the end zone, and the other on fourth down.

There were some more interesting wrinkles along the defensive line. The Lions showed a four-man front with Kerry Hyder and Anthony Zettel as their defensive tackles on a few obvious passing situations. Ziggy Ansah and Devon Kennard were the bookends. I guess if the Lions are going to steal ideas from college coaches, Urban Meyer is a good choice. Ohio State has been doing this for years.

The Lions were clearly working on their stunts last night. Ricky Jean-Francois played a significant number of early snaps and did not look out of place at all. He is clearly a more athletic option than Sylvester Williams or A’Shawn Robinson. When the Lions were getting pressure, RJF was often a contributor. He met Kennard at the quarterback for a pass incompletion that was initially called a sack-fumble.

The takeaway here is that the Lions are still working on some things. With a small number of exceptions, the Lions starters held up pretty well in their one on ones with the Giants. Saquon Barkley, Eli Manning, and Odell Beckham Junior were not on the field, but the Giants other skill position players are far from a group of tomato cans.

The preseason is not about winning games. The 2008 Lions looked great in their 4-0 preseason. Good teams use the preseason as an assessment period. The Lions defense looked completely different. The starting offense struggled in Matthew Stafford’s first live action of the season. None of that matters tomorrow.