The Day After: Five Takeaways From Lions' 17-10 Win Over Buffalo
By Ashley Scoby
@AshleyScoby
Football finally matters again: The Lions closed out their preseason Thursday night - at long last - with a 17-10 win over the Bills. Here is what stood out - the good, the bad and the crazy - in the last week of "it doesn't count" football in Detroit.
Receiver battles
T.J. Jones was probably the most impressive wideout last night, as cuts to that position loom. NFL rosters have to be trimmed to 53 players by 4 p.m. Saturday, and several receivers will be packing their bags this weekend. Jones snapped off a 64-yard touchdown off a Kellen Moore pass in Thursday night's game. From the three times Jones was targeted, he caught two balls for 80 yards and that touchdown. He also returned two punts, including one for 18.
Nearly anyone can put together a flashy, big-time play in a preseason NFL game, but it's consistency that will earn a player a roster spot. And Jones showed that Thursday night.
"That was awesome for T.J.," Moore said of Jones' 64-yard touchdown. "Obviously, last year missing out on preseason and the regular season, it was awesome to see him get his first touchdown in the NFL. Obviously he made a big play and he got a lot of yards after the catch and that was an awesome play."
Kerry Hyder's ridiculous night
Only twice in the history of the NFL has someone recovered four fumbles in a single game. Seven players have recovered three in a game. And if Thursday's Lions game had been a regular season matchup instead of in the preseason, defensive tackle Kerry Hyder would have joined that short list. Three times Buffalo quarterback Matt Sims fumbled, and three times Hyder was there to switch possession back to Detroit.
"(Kerry) Hyder had to break a record of some sort with three fumble recoveries in one game," said head coach Jim Caldwell. "That's an unusual stat line."
On one of those plays, Sims was hit before he could pass the ball, and in the process of falling to the ground, somehow slung his arm backwards and sent the ball flying about 10 yards towards his own end zone. Hyder ran it down on the sideline, but stumbled before he could really get a good running start towards daylight.
"I was thinking about scoring," Hyder said. "D-linemen don't touch the ball that much so when I get a chance to score, I've got to score. Probably get made fun of for that in a while."
Kellen Moore impressed
Moore hasn't had the greatest preseason this year, but he put together a solid performance Thursday night. He went 16-of-22 for 150 yards and a touchdown, and withstood several big hits in the pocket. On one play in the second quarter, Moore stepped up in the pocket, took some hard contact and completed a pass across his body to Jeremy Ross.
"I think the big thing with him is that he's very accurate for the most part," Caldwell said. "He can get the ball where it needs to be and he also can anticipate the throw. With him, he's one of those guys that has a good feel for receivers and anticipating routes and then also ball placement and tonight he did a very good job of that. He's very aware of what's going on on the other side of the ball too; he adjusts to things pretty well in terms of being able to get the ball out."
Zach Zenner still a touchdown factory
The Lions' rushing game on Thursday night was bad: 46 total yards on the ground. But Zenner continued to be the touchdown factory that he's been all preseason: Once again, he scored the game-winner after he bulled his way into the end zone from three yards out in the fourth quarter. He only finished with 21 yards rushing off 10 carries, but with the way he's performed this preseason, he might just be bulling his way into a roster spot, too.
A "dream deferred" for many players
Across the NFL on Saturday, 704 men will lose their jobs. Some will expect it; some won't. Some will catch on with another team, and some will never again put on NFL pads. Football fans, for the most part, only see the guys who play on Sundays. Hidden behind the scenes, though, are dozens of players who have spent the vast majority of their lives playing football, and somehow must put that behind them and start a new future. Families are often uprooted.
On Saturday, 22 of those players will be cut from the Lions' roster, and some will never again put on a football uniform. But many will just have their "dream deferred," as Caldwell put it.
"These guys have been on a six-month job interview," he said. "These guys have been on one for six months where we've securitized and taken a look at every single aspect of them and it's in totality. We look at their off-the-field activities, their on-the-field activities, how they handle themselves during team activities, attitude, I mean the whole bit comes into play. So, it's tough for some of these guys, and after we've gotten to know them for this length of time for some of them like I mentioned before, it may be a dream deferred. For others, they may not ever put a uniform on again, and so I think that's obviously, the tough part about this whole thing."
