The Lions did not play a good football game last night.  J.T. O’Sullivan was forced to play the entire game again due to injuries to Jon Kitna and Dan Orlovsky.  He completed 15 of 26 passes for 175 yards with 1 TD pass.  Neither T.J. Duckett (9 car, 29 yards) or Brian Calhoun (8 car, 25 yards) ran the ball too well.  2nd year WR Brandon Middleton had his night in the spotlight as he led all Lions’ receivers with 5 catches for 50 yards.  The Lions finished the game rushing for 73 yards on 22 carries (3.3 ypc) and they completed 15 of 26 passes for 164 yards.

The defense was good against the run despite allowing 112 yards as it took the Bills 39 carries (2.9 ypc) to get those yards.  The Bills did throw the ball well against the Lions however completing 26 of 35 passes for 254 yards.

http://scores.espn.go.com/nfl/boxscore?gameId=270830008

The Lions have lost starting safety Daniel Bullocks for the season with a torn ACL.  That is a shame for the Lions as he was playing well in the pre-season with 8 tackles plus he’s also one of the Lions’ best defenders on a weak overall defense.  Gerald Alexander (3 tackles) and Idrees Bashir (8 tackles) will duke it out the next two weeks to see who starts at safety in Bullocks’ spot.

The Lions were without Jon Kitna and Dan Orlovsky due to injury so J.T. O’Sullivan played the entire football game.  O’Sullivan completed 24 of 34 passes for 232 yards with 1 TD pass and 2 interceptions.  T.J. Duckett was the leading rusher for the Lions with only 16 yards on 5 carries (3.2 ypc).  RB Aveion Cason led the Lions with 6 grabs for 55 yards (9.2 avg).  Shaun McDonald (4 rec, 51 yards) and Troy Walters (3 rec, 28 yards, TD) both looked sharp again.  The Lions only rushed for 32 yards on 14 carries (2.3 ypc) and they completed 24 of 34 passes for 225 yards.

The Lions stuffed the Colts running game holding them to 48 yards on 19 carries (2.5 ypc).  The Colts destroyed the Lions thru the air however as they completed 39 of 50 passes for 360 yards.

http://scores.espn.go.com/nfl/boxscore?gameId=270825011

The Lions have released long-time special teams ace Eddie Drummond.  Drummond returned 2 punts for 13 yards (6.5 avg) and 5 kickoffs for 95 yards (19.0 avg) in the pre-season.  The coaching staff felt that they didn’t want to use a roster spot on a player that only returned kicks.

The Detroit Lions dominated the first three quarters of his game as they were leading 23-0 heading into the 4th quarter, but they had to hold off a furious comeback really behind Ken Dorsey and Brady Quinn of the Browns.  Jon Kitna looked sharp completing 12 of 16 passes for 137 yards and a TD.  J.T. O’Sullivan (3 of 7, 43 yards) and Dan Orlovsky (2 of 5, 34 yards) both found the 2nd week of the pre-season much harder than the first.  Tatum Bell led the Lions in rushing with 33 yards on 6 carries (5.5 ypc).  T.J. Duckett carried the football 9 times for 31 yards (3.4 ypc) with a TD and he also caught 2 passes for 37 yards (18.5 avg) as he was running the ball hard all night long.  Brian Calhoun carried the ball 9 times for 16 yards (1.8 ypc) on Saturday Night.  Troy Walters led the way for the Lions’ receivers with 4 grabs for 47 yards (11.8 avg).  Shaun McDonald continued his fine pre-season with 3 more grabs for 47 yards (15.7 avg) and a TD.  Overall the Lions offense looked o.k. Saturday Night as they carried the football 29 times for 101 yards (3.5 ypc) and they also completed 17 of 28 passes for 209 yards.

The defense was outstanding for three quarters but you would never know that by looking at the numbers.  The Browns only rushed for 77 yards on 23 carries (3.3 ypc) but they completed 31 of 47 passes for 317 yards. 

http://scores.espn.go.com/nfl/boxscore?gameId=270818005