The first week of the season is in the books, and the Detroit Lions are fortunate to have escaped their season opener against the Saints with a victory after fumbling away a 21-0 lead.
It took overtime for the Lions to put the Saints away, which would have come as a complete shock if you turned the game off midway through the third quarter when it was a three-score game. The reason it was this close was that several players struggled and fell short of expectations in Week 1. That can’t happen with the Bills next on the schedule.
Detroit needs to play near-perfect on Thursday if it expects to start 2-0.
Which Lions absolutely need to be better to beat the Bills in Week 2?
1. Jameson Williams
Look, Jameson Williams is going to be just fine, and Dan Campbell even reiterated that he’s not worried about his drops against the Saints, but he can’t let this spiral into a couple of bad games in a row. Williams has had spurts of drop problems throughout his career, and he’s seemingly always at the center of criticism when the passing game struggles.
Fair or not, he knows that he needs to play better.
Williams did have a couple of big catches that nearly ended up as touchdowns, but his drops were an issue yet again. For a WR2, he can’t afford to let the ball hit his hands without coming down with it as much as he has been.
A big game against the Bills for Williams could make the difference between a Lions win and a loss. That’s how important he is to the offense.
2. Rock Ya-Sin
It’s safe to say that Rock Ya-Sin is going to want to forget the season opener. Campbell expressed confidence in his defensive backfield and called Ya-Sin out by name when he did so, but his performance against the Saints was one that will make everyone want to burn the tape.
He was the lowest-graded Lions defender on PFF and allowed a 70 percent completion rate when targeted while giving up a touchdown pass. He also committed two costly penalties.
There’s a reason that rumors are swirling about the Lions making a deal for a legit cornerback to lead the secondary because Ya-Sin’s performance set off a ton of alarm bells.
Detroit can not afford another performance like that against the Bills.
3. Isaac TeSlaa
Isaac TeSlaa was targeted once, and Jared Goff had 39 pass attempts. If that doesn’t tell you how poorly he played and the lack of separation he created, nothing will. The second-year wideout out of Arkansas was a disappointment, and his disappearing act would have made David Copperfield blush.
The Lions have been searching for a surefire WR3 this offseason, and letting Greg Dortch go after the preseason showed that they had trust in TeSlaa to be that guy.
Against the Saints, he was anything but a WR3 option.
If Detroit expects to go to Buffalo and leave with an “upset” win, it’ll have to hope that TeSlaa wakes up and becomes that third receiving weapon behind Williams and Amon-Ra St. Brown. He simply has to be better moving forward, or his once-promising NFL career will fizzle out.
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