Game one of the preseason is officially in the books, and the Detroit Lions fell to the Cincinnati Bengals 16-14. Overall, I was quite impressed with the Lions, especially considering many of their starters did not play.
To begin the game, the Lions got the ball first, with Luke Altmyer taking the first reps at quarterback.
The starting offensive line consisted of Larry Borom at left tackle, Christian Mahogany at left guard, Seth McLaughlin at center, Miles Frazier at right guard and Blake Miller at right tackle.
The game started with a completion to Tyler Conklin for no gain. Jacob Saylors then took the ball up the middle for seven yards, followed by an eight-yard completion from Altmyer to Saylors. Altmyer then threw a beautiful 23-yard pass to Cedrick Wilson, getting the Lions into Cincinnati territory.
Altmyer started off sharp, processing through his reads and doing a good job of looking off his first option. Ultimately, the drive ended in an interception when Altmyer threw a perfect pass to Isaac TeSlaa. The ball hit TeSlaa in the facemask, went up into the air and was intercepted by Cincinnati.
Out came Joe Burrow, Ja’Marr Chase and many of the Bengals’ starters against multiple Lions backups. Trevor Nowaske and Devin White got the nod at linebacker, while the defensive line featured Tyler Lacy and Anthony Lucas at edge, with Ahmed Hassanein rotating in on Cincinnati’s opening drive alongside Levi Onwuzurike and Chris Smith at defensive tackle.
In the secondary, it was Thomas Harper and Chuck Clark at safety, with Keith Abney, Nick Whiteside and Ennis Rakestraw at cornerback.
It seemed like the Bengals were about to march down the field and score a touchdown when Rakestraw gave up a 16-yard catch to Chase. However, after a four-yard rush and a sack by Hassanein, the Bengals’ drive stalled and they were forced to punt.
Detroit deployed their new 4-2-5 defense, and it seemingly worked well. On the Lions’ second drive, they were forced into a three-and-out after Altmyer could not complete a deep pass to TeSlaa.
Cincinnati would be the first team to put points on the board, marching down to the Lions’ 38-yard line before Detroit bent but did not break, allowing a 56-yard field goal.
Detroit would fight back with an impressive drive all the way down to Cincinnati’s 29-yard line. Altmyer threw for 38 yards on the drive, but the Lions ultimately faced a fourth-and-three. As Dan Campbell always does, he went for it.
The play design was there and TeSlaa was open, but the pass hit him in the hands and he dropped it for his second drop of the first quarter.
Burrow’s day was officially done, and Joe Flacco came in to start the second quarter.
Detroit held Cincinnati to a third-and-16, but Rakestraw appeared to be playing too deep and allowed a 20-yard catch, resulting in a first down.
With rain starting to come down, Cincinnati eventually got down to the Lions’ 25-yard line when backup running back Kendall Milton fumbled the ball. Keith Abney recovered it, giving Detroit its first turnover of the season.
Unfortunately, it did not take long for Detroit to give the ball right back. Altmyer had a poor exchange on a handoff, resulting in a fumble that was likely influenced by the rain.
Cincinnati took over at the Lions’ 7-yard line and scored a touchdown on the second play of the drive, extending its lead to 10-0.
Josh Dobbs then took over at quarterback, and Dan Campbell later cleared the air, saying Dobbs’ entrance was not a result of Altmyer’s fumble.
Detroit managed to get all the way down to Cincinnati’s 38-yard line, but Dobbs was sacked for a five-yard loss, resulting in a Lions punt.
On Cincinnati’s fourth drive, Nick Whiteside was beaten quickly off the ball but recovered in a hurry, making an excellent play to knock the ball down and prevent what would have been a 25-plus-yard gain.
Detroit would finally put together a scoring drive, largely thanks to a 27-yard run by Saylors. Jake Bates came out for a 46-yard field goal and drilled it right down the middle, but Cincinnati was offsides, and Detroit elected to accept the penalty.
On fourth-and-11, it seemed like the Lions were going to get really gutsy and go for it, but instead, they used a hard count to draw Cincinnati offsides, which did not work. Bates then got another opportunity, this time from 41 yards, and made it.
The Bengals made it to the Detroit 44-yard line on third-and-seven and elected to go for it on fourth down. Skyler Gill-Howard provided excellent pressure, and QB hit forcing Bengals quarterback Josh Johnson into an intentional grounding penalty.
With just seven seconds left, the Lions had the ball at the Bengals’ 43-yard line. A quick nine-yard run by Saylors set Bates up for a 52-yard field goal, which he made to cut the lead to 10-6 at halftime.
Overall, I was quite impressed with the playcalling from Drew Petzing and the ability of the Lions’ second- and third-stringers to stop Joe Burrow and Ja’Marr Chase. Detroit held Cincinnati to just three points during the first quarter against their starters
There were certainly mistakes to clean up, but considering the circumstances, there were plenty of positives for Detroit to take away from its first half of the preseason opener.