Lions-Bills: Winners and losers from Detroit’s dominant preseason finale

It’s not the game where you want to necessarily have your best showing, but after the last couple of games, the Lions ended the preseason on a high note of sorts. Some positional battles only got more difficult with players at wide receiver and along the defensive line playing well all night. Here are the winners and losers for the Lions in their preseason finale against the Bills.

Winners

Dwayne Washington: After stalling out in Baltimore, it’s time to grab your boarding pass once again. Next stop: the 53-man roster.

Antwione Williams: From the very first snap, Williams was playing middle linebacker about as well as you could play the position. He was filling gaps, getting into the backfield and stopping running backs at the line of scrimmage. Before camp he was a player on the fringe of making the roster, but after his strong showing in the preseason and capping it off the way he did on the final night, Williams very well might have earned his way onto the roster.

Jay Lee: After doing so little in the first three games, Jay Lee had arguably the best showing of any receiver vying for that fifth roster spot in the preseason. Lee finished the night with six catches on 12 targets — with one drop — for 78 yards and a touchdown.

Kerry Hyder: The Lions have some very tough decisions to make about the defensive line by Saturday’s deadline. One of those tough decisions is Kerry Hyder, the versatile lineman who had his best game of the preseason on Thursday night. Hyder, whose name made rounds as the player who was fined for a hit in Week 2 against the Bengals, played all out against the Bills. He finished the night with three sacks and would have had a fourth one had it not been wiped out by an illegal use of hands penalty by Alex Carter.

Losers

Andre Roberts: An early drop by Roberts on a pass he should have caught may have thrown the rest of his night out of sorts. The veteran receiver would only get two targets and fail to make a catch. With the performances from other wideouts down the depth chart like Jay Lee and Jace Billingsley, the Lions are now pressed to choose between young receivers with potential or a guy who’s been there before.

Gabe Wright: The Detroit Lions’ defensive line was one of the highlights of the night and was key in holding the Bills to zero points on offense, but Gabe Wright was one player who didn’t have quite the night that his fellow linemen had. Whereas players along the interior like A’Shawn Robinson made plays with their hands and Caraun Reid made plays by getting into the backfield, Wright just failed to make the same impression.

George Winn: The running back played fine, but with Dwayne Washington playing so well and Winn not receiving any snaps until the second half, it’s hard to imagine how he makes the team over Zenner or Washington as the fourth running back.