Detroit Lions preseason: Winners and losers from Game 2

The Detroit Lions suffered defeat at the hands of the Cincinnati Bengals by a score of 30-14. Here are your "winners" and "losers" from Thursday's game:

Winners

Marvin Jones - This cat is the real deal, folks. If toe-tapping was a stat, Marvin Jones would lead the league and make Nate Burleson proud. In three drives, Jones finished the night with four catches for 65 yards and continues to strengthen the chemistry between him and Stafford. I mean, just look at this catch:

.@MarvinJonesJr is going to fit in just fine with these @Lions! #CINvsDET https://t.co/3611yHEhXE

— NFL (@NFL) August 18, 2016

Tahir Whitehead - I said it throughout training camp: Tahir Whitehead is not a fan of no contact drills and practices. Now that he's been given the green light, Whitehead made his presence known early after delivering a jarring hit to Jeremy Hill in the backfield for no gain. As the first-team defense left the field, Whitehead finished the game with five solo tackles, which led the team.

Andre Roberts - For the second straight week, Andre Roberts was given reps with the second-team offense as the No. 5 receiver and has made the most of his opportunities. At this point, I'd say he's the favorite to land that final wide receiver spot with Jay Lee and Quinshad Davis on the outside looking in.

Tavon Wilson - He hasn't been put under the spotlight much, but I thought Tavon Wilson had a heck of a game tonight, especially in run support where he was constantly around the ball and making plays.

Losers

Dan Orlovsky - If you take away the two pick-sixes in two games, Dan Orlovsky has actually looked pretty good so far. Too bad you can't take them back, because those two plays were monumentally bad. Right now, Dan-O isn't doing himself any favors, and I'm not so sure that this backup competition is closed shut anymore. If he keeps throwing to the other team, we could be entering the Jake Rudock Era (of backup quarterbacking). Probably not, though, because...

Jake Rudock - Rudock finally decided to start throwing the ball more than three yards down the field and the results weren't good. Lions fans better pray that Matthew Stafford drinks his milk and takes his vitamins, because this team cannot afford a single game with Orlovsky or Rudock under center.

Offensive line starters - Rinse, repeat. The O-line isn't going to get fixed overnight, but they're not progressing much either. Each starter had at least one missed assignment, and Taylor Decker may have had the roughest night of them all (again). To be fair, the offensive line looked slightly better in the passing game this week, giving Stafford some more time to work with, but run blocking continues to be a major point of concern.

Running backs - Not all of the blame should be placed on the offensive line, however, because the running backs haven't looked very good either. Theo Riddick's struggles as a runner has been well-documented in the past, and he hasn't shown much improvement in that area. The only beacon of hope from Thursday's debacle is Dwayne Washington's late effort, finishing with a touchdown and a two-point conversion.

Tight ends - This group looks miserable without Eric Ebron. Cole Wick had a nice catch up the seam, but his blocking has been atrocious. Matthew Mulligan is the Lions' best blocker right now, but was penalized for a false start early in the game. Andrew Quarless was signed early in the week, but did not see the field on Thursday.

Lions fans - This game was a real struggle to watch and I'm guessing it was even worse for the unlucky fans that saw it in person, that is, unless they managed to get their paws on one of those giant blue donuts, because that thing looks delicious. Where was I? Ah yes, preseason football sucks.