Lions defeat Falcons 27-26

Whoopee lets celebrate Detroit we finally won a game oops forgot it was just pre-season but boy was it nice seeing that first unit out there for over a quarter!!!

First of all I have to start by stating pre-season wins or losses mean absolutely nothing (do I really have to bring up the 4-0 record last year) as proof. However there were several bright spots that I found very exciting and was really glad to see. The play of the Offensive Line stood out head and shoulders over everything else I saw including the quarterback competition. They really showed a lot of continuity and team work by opening up nice running holes and giving up no sacks all night. No team will get far without solid play in the trenches on both sides of the ball. Even on plays where the Falcons had good secondary coverage the line still gave Culpepper time to scramble and make something positive happen.

Of course there is a certain matter of our brand new #1 draft pick with record setting contract in Matthew Stafford making his first appearance at 6:31 of the second quarter. I believe both Stafford and Culpepper were handicapped with having the Lion's top 4 receivers arguably all injured but they both had really good games. Culpepper looks to be in awesome shape and shows the same mobility he had when chucking the rock to Randy Moss in his hey day hello Calvin Johnson!!! That guy looks like he can really take a hit and lay a good lick on those linebackers or safeties trying to take him down on those mad rushing scrambles down field. Stafford showed his poise and calmness along with his big arm that has been all the rave from training camp reports. It takes a natural leader to have so quickly won the confidence of the current veterans even on a 0-16 team. As I stated early his 7 for 14 passing performance was hurt by the depletion of wide receivers which led to several drops on very nice throws. I see this QB competition as being very close and coming right down to that all important 3rd pre-season game and may the best player win it on the field and not off it. Of course seeing an improved offensive line play makes me feel better about going with Stafford and not seeing him get pummeled early on like David Carr was in Houston.

Some random highlights for me was the nice show of speed on the return game by Derrick Williams out of Penn State. It was nice seeing decent kick off returns for a change and solid play on the coverage teams. The secondary also showed some real promise and kept the Falcons passing attack at bay for the most part. Looks like some of those veteran Free Agents we brought in will have a very nice impact. No offense to the departed Paris Lennon but man was it nice seeing a real linebacker core out there along side Ernie Sims with Larry Foote and Julian Peterson. Of course there was a fair share of bad tackling but that is always the last thing that comes around from live play action.

Overall they gave us plenty to cheer about and offered us plenty of hope that the turn around has begun!!!

As Always feel free to post your comments good bad or otherwise

Jason