Magicgames II » 248 yards in a win at Miami the previous weekend

Is it time to panic? We’ve got your anxiety guide right here." Detroit Lions OpinionPanic watch: Grading anxiety levels for Detroit Lions’ 4 biggest issues after Texans gameNew Kenny Golladay Jersey ,58commentsIs it time to panic? We’ve got your anxiety guide right here. EDTAfter every preseason game, it seems, a certain subset of Detroit Lions fans hit the panic button. Based on something they’ve seen, they’re certain this year is going to go sideways.While history is certainly on their side, the past does not dictate the future. So each week of the preseason, I will create a handy, dandy Panic Watch guide, which aims to identify the biggest issues raised in the preseason game, and properly assess where your anxiety levels should be as a fan. Here is your Panic Watch guide for the Lions’ preseason Game 2 against the Houston Texans.(You can check out last week’s Panic Watch here) The concern: The Lions can’t generate a pass rushWhy you should panic:The Houston Texans offensive line isn’t very good, and the Detroit Lions managed a total of one sack throughout the entire night. This has been a persistent problem since Matt Patricia came into town, and it appears the Lions don’t have much in terms of reserve pass rushers. And while most the starters were out, guys like A’Shawn Robinson and Devon Kennard were in, and didn’t do much of anything on Saturday night. Why you shouldn’t panic:The following players didn’t play: Mike Daniels, Da’Shawn Hand, Trey Flowers, and Damon Harrison Sr. Daniels, Flowers and Hand are probably the team’s best pass rushers, and simply having a guy like Snacks in there changes the dynamic of everything. Additionally, the Lions are playing a very vanilla defensive scheme and probably not sending as many or as complicated blitzes as they will in the regular season. Also, Romeo Okwara—one of the few reserves we know will have a role this year—had a heck of a game. Overall panic level: 4/10My overall concern here is only schematic related. I’m starting to wonder if Detroit’s overall strategy of contain over pressure is really best for this defense. It didn’t work to well last year Jalen Reeves-Maybin Jersey , and the secondary didn’t look to great under that strategy in the first quarter on Saturday.That being said, withDaniels, Flowers and Snacks in the lineup, we could see a much more aggressive defense. The only reason I’m not including Hand here, is because it doesn’t seem certain he’ll be ready to go by Week 1. Still, there should be at least a little concern given this team’s history. The concern: The Lions didn’t play well until the first-string Texans were off the fieldWhy you should panic:The Lions gave up a touchdown on their first defensive series and went three-and-out on their first offensive series. Outside of a turnover, it doesn’t get much worse than that. And this is the second straight week the Lions have struggled out of the gate. Considering that’s when teams are playing their best players, it can’t be a great sign that Detroit is struggling against players most likely to actually see the field on Sundays. Why you shouldn’t panic:Offensively, I think it’s fair to just throw everything out the window. This offense is going to look a lot different with Matthew Stafford behind center, and the Lions’ best offensive weapons—Kenny Golladay, Marvin Jones Jr., Danny Amendola—haven’t even taken a snap yet. Kerryon Johnson looked fine in his limited action, and the starting offensive line is playing fine. Defensively, Detroit is missing some of their best players, and they seemed to settle down just fine after Deshaun Watson was out of the game. Overall panic level: 5/10Since this is the second week in a row, there should be growing concern. However, given how much the Lions’ backup quarterbacks are struggling, it’s hard to take any results seriously. When the backup quarterback struggles, it obviously affects the offense, but it affects the defense Barry Sanders Jersey , too.With the quick three-and-outs on offense, the Lions defense has to come out with little rest and has typically had to deal with shortened fields. It throws off the entire tempo of the game.Still, you’d like to see a little more chemistry and results at the top of games. If the Lions can’t do it in Game 3 of the preseason, then the panic level will jump. The concern: Deshaun Watson picked the Lions’ secondary apartWhy you should panic:The Lions pretty much had all of their defensive back starters in for the first quarter of Saturday’s game, and Watson dissected the secondary in his one and only drive. The concerns around nickel cornerback Justin Coleman continue to grow, and considering the Lions’ struggles in the secondary were glaring last year, this could be a sign that Detroit is in for more trouble. It wasn’t a particularly great day from the safeties, either, as Detroit had problems covering tight ends—a issue that has persisted with this franchise for some time.Why you shouldn’t panic:Darius Slay still looks like Darius Slay. Rashaan Melvin has looked comfortable at the other outside corner position. And much of the reason the Lions struggled in coverage on Saturday has to do with the aforementioned lack of pass rush.The Texans’ first touchdown is the perfect example of the secondary not being the main problem. The Lions were in tight coverage the entire play, but it’s impossible to expect Melvin to cover one of the best receivers (DeAndre Hopkins) in the entire league for five or six seconds. Overall panic level: 6/10My concern level is pretty high for the Lions’ nickel corner position at this point, as Coleman’s issues have now persisted for several weeks. Elsewhere, there’s not much concern at all. The concern: The Lions’ backup QB job is still shakyWhy you should panic:When the Lions signed Josh Johnson last week, the assumption was that he’d immediately come in and take over the backup quarterback position. Instead, the Lions offense looked no different than last week’s serious struggles with Johnson behind centerWith Tom Savage’s ongoing concussion problem, there’s is no clear backup to Matthew Stafford right now, and with the regular season less than three weeks away, that’s an issue.Why you shouldn’t panic:To expect Johnson to come in right away and immediately play at a competent backup level is just asking too much. Johnson had a pretty good week of practice in the lead up to the game, so the game performance alone may not be the best thing to judge him by.Additionally, while Johnson looked poor, David Fales looked like a completely different quarterback. He provided the team with a spark we hadn’t seen in the preseason yet Michael Roberts Jersey , and jumped right back into the backup competition. Overall panic level: 6/10I’m not buying the Fales resurrection quite yet. I saw too much troubling play this training camp to believe he’s suddenly turned a corner. And if he’s the David Fales I think he is, then we could be heading into the regular season with Josh Johnson as the primary backup. That shouldn’t make anyone feel great considering he’ll have less than a month experience with the team, and his performance Saturday certainly didn’t inspire much faith either. Of course, if Savage returns to practice soon, you can drop this panic level to a 1 or 2. ALLEN PARK, Mich. (AP) — After a listless home loss this past weekend, Detroit defensive lineman Ricky Jean Francois called out his team."I just want everybody to lock back in. Lock in for these next 10 weeks, just lock in," Jean Francois said after Sunday's 28-14 loss to Seattle."Leave everything else alone outside of this building. I know you love your family, but tell them you will see them in February. Just lock in and do your job, nothing else is important to us right now." Time will tell whether Sunday's loss becomes a galvanizing moment for the Lions, but the frustration was understandable.For three straight seasons, Detroit has won between seven and nine games, and its fans have experienced occasional optimism followed by quick letdowns.After losing to Seattle, the Lions are again in a tough spot — alone in last place in the NFC North, heading into road games against Minnesota and Chicago."I think all of our process every single week as we move through the season here, it has to improve," said Matt Patricia, Detroit's first-year coach."Everything does. The season gets harder as you go on and the process has to get better each and every week. So, we have to make sure we're doing that to the highest level."The Lions lost their first two games of the season but showed an appropriate amount of urgency after that Taylor Decker Jersey , scrambling back to the .500 mark. They appeared to have fixed their long-dormant running game, and the home game against the Seahawks looked like another opportunity to show progress.Instead, Detroit (3-4) allowed three touchdowns in the second quarter and never recovered."We came out flat with no focus. We just weren't ready to go again," Jean Francois said. "That team came off that bus ready to go. They were ready to execute everything, they were ready to put their skills on display. We just came out there and weren't focused at all against this team and that's the weird part."Running back Ameer Abdullah, who fumbled while returning a kickoff, shared similar sentiments afterward."It's a long season, sometimes you kind of hit a cruise control and you forget the little things you do every single day," Abdullah said. "Like same foot, same shoulder, ball security, hold tight, stuff like that. But you have to continue to focus on that stuff as the season goes on."Beyond the intangible notions of focus and intensity, the Lions were outperformed statistically as well. Seattle had a 176-34 edge in rushing — a step back for a Detroit team that ran for 248 yards in a win at Miami the previous weekend.The Lions fell behind 21-7 in the second quarter, and that probably played a role in the rushing disparity. Detroit finished the game with only 13 attempts on the ground."I think we talked about it all week last week about how good they are in the run game. They do a good job of loading the box and just put themselves in some really good positions to make some plays," Patricia said Monday."We have to execute a little bit better and obviously just try to get some more positive plays in the run game going earlier in the game and be able to stay with it and control the game from that aspect of it."Detroit also turned the ball over three times against Seattle, so the Lions have had eight turnovers in their losses to the Seahawks and Jets, but only two in their five other games.But two of Detroit's turnovers Sunday came in the fourth quarter when the team was already facing a double-digit deficit. The game began to slip away long before then."They out-executed us in all three phases last night and we did not execute up to par," Patricia said. "I just have to do a better job coaching and we have to do a better job of playing."