Notes: Film breakdowns of Detroit Lions preseason win over New York Giants

Now that it’s been day since the Friday preseason opener, we’ve gathered up some small items fans may have missed in the coverage. Although Pride of Detroit’s main articles are a good way to get the big picture, there are always some smaller items that are fun and interesting but don’t make it into the main writeups. To lead off, we have a crucial update on the introductory hype video at Ford Field from MLive’s Ben Raven:

For those who love to see film analysis, NFL Network’s Brian Baldinger posted a handful of quick analysis video cutups of Jahmyr Gibbs, Jameson Williams, and Jack Campbell in action. In the first posted video on Gibbs, Baldinger pointed out what he thought was Gibbs’ best play at the end: a tackle! On the ugly interception where Nate Sudfeld was hit as he threw, Gibbs tracks it and realizes he needs to turn into a defender to prevent a big runback.

The middle play that Baldinger features in the Gibbs cutups with Nate Sudfeld getting chased out of the pocket actually has a second thing worth noticing. How about a big Sam LaPorta block? Love to see awareness in pass protection like this even if it’s the long downfield receptions that usually make the highlight reels:

What’s nice in the Williams and Campbell clips from Baldinger is that even on plays where the youngsters made mistakes (Williams drops a pass and Campbell overruns a play), the analyst sees things he likes. It’s more important that the desire and talent is there since the mistakes are things that can be cleaned up and trained. In his Jameson Williams clip, Baldinger highlights how the wide receiver’s top end speed and acceleration changes the way coverage has to deal with him. Then in the Campbell clip, there are two fantastic reps of the rookie linebacker shedding blockers and getting to the play.

Sticking with that position group, our own John Whiticar said in his takeaways article that the linebackers played well and were “a breath of fresh air.” Most of the talk has predictably been about first-round draft pick Jack Campbell, but Jeremy wants everyone to remember the Detroit Lions have another physical guy that flies to the ball in Rodrigo. Here’s a great hit and shed stop in the run game by the hip-tossing former wrestler:

By the way, the Brian Branch hit on Cole Beasley everybody marveled at is way more impressive when you see how far he had to go to make that play. From the overhead All-22, we can see Branch crossed the entire formation:

From the Maurice Alexander touchdown punt return, here are some details spotted by our eagle-eyed head crew of Jeremy and Erik. First, a serious item showing how important awareness and quality special teams play by the other people on the field who don’t have the ball is. Erik mentioned Starling Thomas’ block on the punt return touchdown in his stock report article, but it’s worth seeing on video:

The other things are small details from the very end of the play:

On the opposing sideline, Big Blue View’s article on 5 plays that stood out to their staff included some lamentations about the guy the NBC cameras saw Giants head coach Brian Daboll disgustedly staring down: special teams coordinator Thomas McGaughey. The kicking game has apparently been a sore spot for the Giants for years now.

Also worth mentioning is the fifth play Big Blue View selected, which was the missed touchdown on fourth down by the Lions right before halftime. In his breakdown of the play, writer Nick Falato acknowledges that Lions wide receiver Dylan Drummond had his man beat (Giants cornerback Cor’Dale Flott) on the switch to the outside. The embedded GIF in the article shows a fine route by Drummond, which really should have been an uncontested pitch and catch for a score if Sudfeld hadn’t thrown poorly off his back foot. The call by offensive coordinator Ben Johnson and the route by Drummond were both on the money.

Finally, in case anyone wanted to see it all in one place, here’s a snapshot from Jeremy of the players who did not suit up for the game:

Now, on to the rest of your weekend Notes:

• Recently released guard Logan Stenberg was claimed off waivers by division rival Chicago.

• The Lions announced one transaction on Saturday, waiving cornerback Tae Hayes.

• A small note for those who attend the games in person at Ford Field:

• Team reporter Dannie Rogers spoke to NBC Sunday Night Football’s Mike Tirico before the preseason game and the video is posted to the team’s official YouTube channel.

• Tyler Dunne at Go Long has another pair of incredible pieces about the Lions up. These articles are for paid subscribers, but have the Jeremy stamp of approval (plus, Tyler Dunne wrote them so you know they are going to be good):

• The Athletic’s Colton Pouncy was on The Athletic Football Show’s TAFS Goes Camping Vol. 3 podcast episode to talk about the Lions. You can listen to the entire episode on Spotify, and the section on the Lions starts at around the 57:30 mark.

• Our fearless leader Jeremy Reisman was a guest on Big Blue View’s podcast Valentine’s Views before Friday’s preseason game. You can watch the entire 27-minute episode on YouTube.

• For those who did not catch the broadcast, the team’s media folks posted a highlights package of Friday’s game against the Giants on YouTube. They also posted a shorter video of just the five sacks by the defense.

• The team also posted video of the post-game press conference of head coach Dan Campbell:

• There has been a correction issued to the McDonald’s buy one get one free promotion with the Lions. Big Macs will be BOGO after the Lions get an interception in a game, not a field goal as originally reported by some outlets.

• This is the best Kalif Raymond chart ever made:

• Rookie tight end Sam LaPorta was this week’s guest on Twentyman in the Huddle. You can watch the entire episode on YouTube.

• Okay, this is pretty cool: