The Detroit Lions concluded their business trip to Houston with an interesting, schizophrenic, 30-23 preseason loss to the Texans.
I watched the game in real time and checked the tape on replay to see what I might have missed the first time around. Here are four things I learned about the Lions from the Texans game.
Will Harris is Jabrill Peppers
Okay, so he’s not as polished or as big as Peppers when he was a rookie in Cleveland. And in scooping and scoring on a fumble recovery to give the Lions their first preseason touchdown, he showed a little more playmaking panache than the young Peppers did. I’m more referring to style of play and how Harris should be deployed in the defense.
Throughout camp, Harris showed an almost freakish lack of route awareness in deep coverage. As a high safety in 2-deep coverage or when tasked with multiple receivers in his cone of responsibility, Harris consistently failed to react until it was too late. I saw those exact same issues with Peppers in Browns camp back in 2017, and at Michigan before that.
Peppers improved emphatically in his second season when he was moved up in the formation. He played a lot of hybrid S/LB and handled slot coverage on TEs who flexed out, and he did it pretty well. It also left Peppers in position to make an impact in the run game and to be around the ball more with his speed in the short passing game.
That’s exactly what I saw from Harris against the Texans. The Lions found him a home he can inhabit as a rookie.
Josh Johnson made David Fales better
I know, Johnson had less than a week of practice with his new teammates before being thrown to the wolves, err Texans, as a thankless starter while coach Matt Patricia sat everyone on offense a casual fan might have heard of. It’s a valid excuse for some of the missed communications and misfires, absolutely it is.
Yet Johnson looked stunningly green for a guy who’s been in the NFL for a decade. If anyone was wondering why he’s been on nearly half the teams in the league — the Lions are Johnson’s 13th team he’s signed with — it was evident in the ugly opening drives. He stares down receivers and spots. He doesn’t anticipate, or react to, pressure well. His arm strength isn’t as Stafford-esque as he appears to believe it is.
Yet that bode surprisingly well for David Fales. Last week’s completely overwhelmed disaster took his game demotion in stride. While Johnson’s awful performance no doubt framed Fales for success, Fales legitimately impressed.
I have seen way too much of Fales in the past. I even saw him in person when he played at San Jose State (at UTSA in 2012) and wondered then what anyone in the NFL saw in him. Last night was the best I’ve ever seen Fales play, particularly in the long scoring drives in the second half.
There was confidence in his arm. Perfect throwing fundamentals, even under duress. He threw receivers open. Where the heck was this guy vs. New England?!?
If it took sitting Fales behind the obviously underwhelming Johnson to light the fire and coax out his maximum ability, that’s some impressive coaching by Darrell Bevell, Sean Ryan and Matt Patricia.
The pass rush was terrifyingly inept
If Lions fans knew anything about the Texans, one of the most prominent bits of knowledge is how bad the Houston offensive line has been over the years. Remember, Oday Aboushi was the 2nd-best starter up front (Duane Brown, now in Seattle, was the best) on the Texans team that won a playoff game a couple years ago, and Aboushi will not make this Lions team.
As bad as the Texans have been at protecting Deshaun Watson (sacked 62 times last year), their O-line completely dominated the Lions defensive front in pass protection. Watson had time to sit on hold with his credit card company before making some throws early in the game. Even on some 5-man rushes, the Lions couldn’t get close.
Not playing top starters like Trey Flowers, Damon Harrison, Jarrad Davis, Mike Daniels and Da’Shawn Hand obviously played a role. Coach Patricia wanted to see what Romeo Okwara, Fred Jones (a surprise starter after a good week of practice), P.J. Johnson and Eric Lee could do against the NFL’s worst offensive line. He got his answer, and unfortunately the answer is “nothing” other than two great plays by Okwara working against a third-string tackle who won’t even make a practice squad.
Matt Patricia hates the preseason
If we’ve learned anything from the first two games, it’s that Patricia truly doesn’t care about preseason outcomes.
For the second week in a row, Matthew Stafford and his top receivers did not play. Other than A’Shawn Robinson, none of the defensive starters in the middle of the field played at all. Kerryon Johnson saw eight snaps. The starting OL played 14 reps together.
Beyond the participation, the scheming remains decidedly vanilla compared to what we’ve watched in Allen Park in practices. Without getting into specifics, the variety of formations on offense and the intricacies of the pass rush and coverage that we watched in training camp are far more advanced and prevalent than what we’ve seen against the Patriots and Texans.
It can be frustrating for fans to see such lifeless, unimaginative play from players that fans — and even the broadcast crew — need to reference a roster to identify. Matt Patricia doesn’t care. That’s not important to his preseason plan for his team.
