Saturday open thread: Do you feel better, worse, or the same after the Lions’ preseason loss to the Bills?

The Dan Campbell era is officially sorta underway!

Much is made about the first bit of competitive action we get to put our eyes on after eight months of waiting—for better and for worse. We all fall victim to our insatiable hunger for football. We jump at the first chance to chew on it, digest it, and demand a second helping no matter what does—or doesn’t—sit right with us.

For now, let’s focus on Friday’s matchup for the Detroit Lions, their first bit of preseason action under Campbell and Co. against the defending AFC East Champion Buffalo Bills. Let’s get right down to it with today’s Question of the Day...

Do you feel better, worse, or the same after the Lions’ preseason loss to the Bills?

It feels like this one game can be a lot because it’s literally everything we have so far, and typically that’s where you can fall into the pitfalls of overreactions. After just one game, I find it most useful to err on the side of more evidence and that’s exactly where I’m at after Week 1 of the preseason for the Detroit Lions.

Did Jared Goff look a bit jittery in some pretty clean pockets? Yeah, in a couple of instances. Did Jamaal Williams have trouble getting past the line of scrimmage? It certainly was a challenge he couldn’t overcome on his own. Did the offensive line look shaky to the point of concern after just one series? It certainly wasn’t eliciting the kind of confidence people had for it in the aftermath of the 2021 NFL Draft.

But we got exactly two series of play from the starters: one three-and-out that ended in Penei Sewell giving up a sack and then one 18-play drive that lasted nearly 10 minutes and only traveled 70 yards.

Not exactly much to chew on, but that’s why they’ll play next week.

On defense, some players stepped up and made plays. Kevin Strong’s stout effort against the run game and Julian Okwara pressuring Bills’ passers all night before he finally got home for a sack late in the game’s fourth quarter was encouraging. Likewise, Okwara’s shortcomings against the run and linebackers' inability to prevent Buffalo from earning chunk plays on the ground definitely leave room for improvement.

But again, this is the team’s first opportunity to take some game tape and pick it apart for areas of improvement. The preseason is all about growth and opportunity, so without a real test for almost another month, I feel just about the same as I did about this Lions team before—and after—this game went final.

Your turn.