The Detroit Lions beat the Cleveland Browns on Saturday night by a score of 13-12. Here's a look at some "winners" and "losers" from the game:
Winners
QB Kellen Moore - Moore went 11 of 13 for 121 yards and one touchdown, and he led the Lions to a comeback victory. Perhaps more importantly, he looked a lot better than current backup quarterback Dan Orlovsky. Granted, Moore primarily went up against the bottom of the Browns roster, while Orlovsky faced second-stringers for much of the night, but Moore performed quite well. His chances of beating out Orlovsky to be the Lions' backup QB still don't exactly seem great, but if nothing else, he's made things interesting at the position.
Caldwell said giving Kellen Moore more reps with the regulars is something he would consider moving forward
— Tim Twentyman (@ttwentyman) August 10, 2014
WR Ryan Broyles - Broyles only caught three passes for 27 yards, but the most important thing is that he looked healthy. Considering he's coming off back-to-back torn ACLs and a torn Achilles last season, that was good to see.
S Isa Abdul-Quddus - Not only did he have the game-clinching interception, but Abdul-Quddus tied for the team lead in tackles with six, including one for loss. He's in a battle to make the team at safety, and his performance on Saturday definitely helped his case.
K Nate Freese - Freese served as the Lions' kicker in the first half and made both of his field goal attempts. He also did a respectable job as the Lions' kickoff specialist. At this point, it's pretty clear that the kicker job is his to lose.
Overall health of the team - Theo Riddick and Tahir Whitehead got a bit banged up, but there didn't appear to be any major injuries on Saturday night. Considering the main goal in the preseason is really just to get through games without any serious injuries, I'd say Saturday was a success for the Lions.
Losers
QB Dan Orlovsky - His numbers weren't that bad (12 of 23 for 89 yards), but Orlovsky did not look very good as the Lions' No. 2 quarterback. As of right now, he's still locked in as the backup simply because he's a veteran, but his performance might have opened the door a bit for Moore. Either way, Orlovsky's play pretty much made it clear that if Matthew Stafford misses any time this season, the Lions are screwed. They really should have re-signed Shaun Hill.
QB James Franklin - Franklin didn't get a chance to play on Saturday, and that's exactly why he's on the losers list. He didn't even get an opportunity to show what he can do, which goes along with the notion that he's barely gotten any reps during training camp. At this point, it's clear that Franklin doesn't even have a shot to make the team, and even the practice squad might be a stretch considering he is struggling to even get on the field.
The Lions' ball security - The Lions had a pair of turnovers against Cleveland, both of which were fumbles. The first fumble was by George Winn (who would have been on the winners list if not for the turnover), and the second one was a botched snap between Travis Swanson and Moore. Also, the Lions had an earlier fumble on a kick return by Steven Miller, but there somehow wasn't enough evidence on a challenge that Cleveland recovered the ball. In reality, that probably should have been a turnover as well. Although these fumbles involved players who either won't make the team or will be in backup roles this season, it would have been nice for the Lions to take better care of the ball considering how big of an issue turnovers were last year.