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Quick takeaways from the Lions lousy exhibition loss to the Chargers

All the excitement for some Detroit Lions football faded away pretty quickly on Thursday night. The Lions, sitting all their starters and a handful of key reserves on both sides of the ball, were outplayed and out-executed by the Los Angeles Chargers in the Pro Football Hall of Fame game.

The Chargers won the game (score), but the score of exhibition games is completely inconsequential. The path to that egregious outcome, however, told the story of a Lions team that has a lot of work to do in all three phases of the game beyond the starters.

Here’s what stood out from watching the lackluster Lions loss to the Chargers:

QB play was rough

Kyle Allen got the start instead of Hendon Hooker, but the veteran proved mistake-prone to the extreme detriment of the entire offense. Allen threw two interceptions, the first of which was as awful of a pass as can be expected — late and lacking zip to the outside behind WR Tom Kennedy, who had no chance.

Hooker took over in the second half and wasn’t any more effective. The positive signs we’d seen in training camp of Hooker getting the ball out on time and making quick reads weren’t the same No. 2 we saw against the Chargers’ third-string defense. Hooker’s drive chart:

  • 3 plays, -4 yards, punt (10 yards lost on a Mason Miller holding penalty)
  • 8 plays, 32 yards, turnover on downs when Hooker failed to scramble far enough on 4th down
  • 5 plays, 12 yards, punt
  • 4 plays, 8 yards, ended on an INT that was probably Hooker’s best throw of the night, but the Chargers DB ripped the ball away from Lions rookie WR Dominic Lovett, who couldn’t cleanly catch the ball initially.

Allen did have a string of nice completions, notably two to third-round rookie Isaac TeSlaa. He finished 9-for-14 for 91 yards, but the mistakes–including a turnover on downs where Allen slid too early to pick up the necessary yardage–are very difficult to get past.

TeSlaa was ready

Isaac TeSlaa was arguably the best Lions player in the game. The third-round wideout from Arkansas caught two passes for 46 yards and looked solid in his releases off the line and route-running. He also dominated a rep as the gunner on a booming Jack Fox punt, and made a couple of nice blocks in the run game.

It was an impressive NFL exhibition debut for TeSlaa, who grew up a Lions fan on the west side of Michigan and continues to make positive noise in every practice.

Special teams dropped the ball

Lions special teams coordinator Dave Fipp is a major stickler for attention to detail. Fipp can’t be happy with what he saw overall from his units, starting with the opening kickoff.

That very first kickoff of the game was a good indication of how the night would play out for Detroit. Linebacker Grant Stuard, who has been stellar all camp at all things special teams, fumbled the return attempt when he ran into the back of fellow LB Anthony Pittman. The Chargers recovered and the rout was on.

The specialists themselves were fine, but the coverage units and blocking on returns were full of missed assignments. It’s an exhibition game featuring almost no players who will be on the Lions 53-man roster, but those same players fighting for roles and practice squad spots have looked much better in Allen Park than they did in Canton.

Players who earned too many negative notes

A quick perusal thru my real-time game notes and live blog of the game reflects that these players did not make good real-time impressions:

WR Dominic Lovett. The seventh-round rookie put one Kyle Allen pass on the ground and then essentially handed the final interception to the Chargers. He did make a couple of key catches and transitioned well from receiver to runner, but those mistakes can’t happen when you’re fighting for a roster spot like Lovett is.

CB Ennis Rakestraw. The second-year second-rounder got toasted on an early route by speedy Chargers rookie WR Kendall Lambert-Smith. He didn’t play with the confidence that made him so appealing as a prospect at Missouri, either. Rakestraw has been battling a chest injury and missed several days, but he got the start in this game.

CB Dicaprio Bootle. Lambert-Smith got him, too. Badly:

Bootle was guilty of an obvious pass interference penalty that set up a score later in the game. Other than a brief flash in Monday’s practice, it was much more of the same that we’ve seen this summer from No. 17.

LB Anthony Pittman. For a linebacker entering his seventh NFL season, it would be nice if he weren’t so consistently, so easily caught in the wrong gap in run defense. The football geometry of playing off-ball LB just isn’t there for No. 41.

OT Mason Miller. Miller has struggled for most of camp, notably at staying engaged with his run blocks. Sure enough, No. 63 was on the ground a handful of times in the run game, at least two of which led to tackles by the player he was supposed to be blocking.

Players who stood out positively

RB Craig Reynolds. The third-string RB looked very good despite inconsistent blocking on his runs from the line. He scored the Lions’ only touchdown and ran hard and smart all night.

CB Tyson Russell. Quietly coming on in camp of late, Russell played well on first viewing. He prevented a touchdown with good coverage and body positioning on an end-zone jump ball. No. 35 also made a very nice open-field tackle.

S Ian Kennelly. Speaking of nice open-field tackles:

Kennelly didn’t have a perfectly clean game, but he made his presence felt on a couple of hits. Not bad for an undrafted rookie safety known much more for his coverage skills…

C Kingsley Eguakun. Eguakun started at center and started slowly, but after the first couple of drives played extremely well. He made a couple of nice clear-out blocks and appeared to withstand an interior bull rush pretty well (film study needed).

LB Grant Stuard. His egregious special-teams gaffe aside, Stuard looked like he was playing at a different speed than all the other Lions LBs. A two-play series saw Stuard bag a sack on a delayed rush and then make a perfect form tackle immediately after a short pass.

DE Nate Lynn. Didn’t show up much on the stat sheet (1 solo tackle, 2 assists), but No. 57 won a few battles and was quite active in getting pressure or into the backfield in the run game.

Quick hits

–OT Dan Skipper, who started at left tackle, was in a walking boot on his left foot after the game.

–Aside from the 5 turnovers, Detroit was 1-for-11 on converting third downs.

–Stuard’s sack was the only time the Lions defense registered an official QB hit all night.

–Former Lions DL Da’Shawn Hand got the start for the Chargers. Hand was a fourth-round pick by Detroit in 2018 and played his first four seasons with the Lions. He played all 17 games for Miami last season.

–Detroit was flagged for eight penalties, costing them 68 yards. Once an early intentional grounding call was (correctly) waved off, it felt like all the other infractions were legit.

–Trey Lance impressed in his start for the Chargers, showing a live arm and generally making good reads. Outshined his Lions counterparts.

–TE Kenny Yeboah left the game with a back injury but returned later in the second half.

–The Lions are off from practice until Sunday. Next preseason game is in Atlanta next Friday night.

This article originally appeared on Lions Wire: Quick takeaways from the Lions lousy exhibition loss to the Chargers

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