The Lions’ offense played well in a 35-27 win over the Browns, but Detroit’s defense has some holes.
Lions DT Ndamukong Suh fought through a double team on the play when he facemasked and roughed up Browns QB Jake Delhomme.
Said Lions DE Kyle Vanden Bosch of Suh, “I think you’re going to see him progress really quickly. I expect the same thing everyone else expects -- he’s going to be a dominant player before the season’s over. He’s not a guy that’s gonna sneak on the field as a rookie and surprise people. They’re going to be looking for him and know where he’s at on every play. As a defensive line, we have to take advantage of that.”
Lions rookie RB Jahvid Best is already drawing comparisons to Barry Sanders.
Lions coach Jim Schwartz didn’t want to overreact to Best’s one carry for 51 yards, but he did call Best “a pretty good player.”
In three preseason games, Delhomme is 38-of-48 for 345 yards and two touchdowns with no interceptions for a quarterback rating of 122.0.
“I thought Jake was outstanding,” Browns coach Eric Mangini said. “He’s been outstanding all preseason. It’s a matter of how he runs the offense and deals with personnel groups and shifts. He’s efficient, a good decision maker. And I like how he gets us into plays when we’re not in the best situations, how he changes the cadence and slows the defense.”
Cleveland was outscored 14-0 in the fourth quarter as the Browns’ second-string defense was carved up by the Lions’ substitutes.
Turnovers were a problem for the Browns, as RB Jerome Harrison, TE Evan Moore and QB Colt McCoy all coughed up the ball.
