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Winners and losers from the Lions' third preseason game

A breakdown of who impressed and who depressed in the Lions' third preseason game against the Jaguars.

By Jeremy Reisman
Stacy Revere/Getty Images

Here's a look of the "winners" and "losers" from the Detroit Lions' 22-17 victory over the Jacksonville Jaguars:

Winners

Lions first-string run defense - At the half, the Lions had allowed just 41 yards on 14 carries. Take away Blake Bortles' two scrambles, and Jacksonville had just 18 rushing yards total in the first half. That is a breath of fresh air after the Lions were run all over by Washington last week.

Golden Tate - Matthew Stafford and Tate must have hung out a lot this offseason, because they are completely on the same page. Stafford dropped a beautiful 62-yard bomb right into the arms of an awaiting Tate. Tate has been absolutely killing it this preseason:

Zach Zenner - Zenner got a significant amount of playing time with the first string offense and made it count. After also getting some playing time toward the end of the game, he finished with eight carries for 85 yards and a touchdown, highlighted by a 41-yard scamper. Zenner's day overshadowed George Winn, who mostly saw the field with the second-string offense and only managed 13 yards on six carries.

Stafford - Overlooking a few overthrows early in the game, Stafford looked poised and dominant behind center Friday night. He also finished with a pretty darn good statline: 11-15, 173 yards, 2 TDs, 0 INTs, 150.8 passer rating.

Health - After an injury-filled game last week, the Lions managed to escape Jacksonville relatively healthy. There were no major injuries on either side of the ball for the Lions.

Losers

First string pass defense - The Lions made Bortles look like a Pro Bowl quarterback on Friday. Outside of Darius Slay, the Lions' pass coverage teams failed to look competent in any way. Bortles finished 20-29 for 245 yards and 1 TD. The Jaguars did not punt with their first string offense in the game, despite being shut down in the running game.

Ryan Broyles - Broyles' slim chances to make the final roster just got slimmer. Broyles didn't see much time on the field and failed to catch a pass against the Jaguars. He has to be a long shot to make the roster at this point.

Tahir Whitehead - It's not that Whitehead had a bad game against the Jaguars; it's when he played that may be troubling for him. Travis Lewis started the game in his place and Whitehead was still in the game on the Jaguars' final drive of the game. I'm not sure what to make of this, but it's hard to imagine a scenario in which this is a good thing for Whitehead.

Penalties - Although the referees were still in preseason form, the Lions did not play a well-disciplined game. Detroit finished with 14 penalties for a whopping 145 yards. For someone who emphasizes discipline, Jim Caldwell cannot be happy with that performance.

In This Stream

Full coverage on the Lions 22-17 victory over the Jaguars

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