:format(webp)/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/18020163/20130815_mjm_ss4_128.0.jpg)
Just as it did last week for the preseason opener, Pro Football Focus has put together a review of the Detroit Lions' game against the Cleveland Browns. Last week's review primarily focused on the play of the offensive and defensive lines, but the focus has shifted to the play of the linebackers this week.
This won't come as a surprise to anybody who watched Thursday's game, but the Lions' linebackers did not play well. Specifically, Stephen Tulloch, Tahir Whitehead, Travis Lewis and Cory Greenwood were highlighted by PFF as players who had a rough game. All four players received negative grades for their pass coverage, and Browns quarterbacks actually went 7-for-7 for 68 yards and 2 touchdowns against them, according to the article.
The news wasn't any better in PFF's section on the Lions' passing game, which also shouldn't be surprising to anyone who watched on Thursday. With Calvin Johnson out of the lineup, the Lions couldn't do much of anything through the air, especially downfield. As PFF noted, none of the Lions' quarterbacks managed to complete a pass that traveled more than 10 yards in the air downfield. There was no downfield passing game for the Lions on Thursday.
Believe it or not, but it wasn't all bad for the Lions on Thursday. Their defensive line once again stood out for positive reasons thanks to Ndamukong Suh and Devin Taylor. Suh received a +2.8 grade for his pass rush against the Browns, and Taylor actually got a +2.1 grade for his pass rush. Suh's excellent performance isn't necessarily a huge surprise, but it's nice to see that Taylor played well again.
Head on over to PFF for more on Thursday's game.