By Michael Stets
The fourth preseason game is usually never a memorable one, and Thursday night’s Lions vs. Bills matchup was certainly no exception.
The Lions rested almost all of their starters, and the backups struggled mightily, losing to the Buffalo Bills 27-17 at New Era Field in Orchard Park, NY.
“A little bit too sloppy for us,” head coach Jim Caldwell told Jim Brandstatter after the game. “First half there was a bunch of penalties. I think we had five of them in the first half and added two during the second but far too many turnovers as well. It just kind of distorts the game a little bit. Not quite a sharp as you would like, but some of the young guys did ok.”
Bills backup quarterback Nathan Peterman, Buffalo’s 2017 fifth-round draft pick out of Pittsburgh, led the Bills down the field on their opening possession, which resulted in a Stephen Hauschka 30-yard field goal. After a three-and-out by the Lions, the Bills jumped out to a 10-0 lead after a 21-yard touchdown run by Jonathan Williams, who got past Charles Washington and Teez Tabor on his way to the end zone.
Missed tackles plagued the Lions throughout the losing effort to the Bills.
“I think a couple of times we had some pretty good angles and had some guys stopped, and they broke the tackles,” said Caldwell. “You have to give them some credit too. But we weren’t as sharp as we should’ve been.”
On their next offensive possession, the Lions were on the move, but after a reception near midfield, Jared Abbrederis, who is in the thick of a wide receiver battle for a spot on the roster, fumbled, giving the ball back to the Bills. Hauschka hit another field goal for the Bills on their next drive, this one from 45-yards, and Buffalo took a 13-0 lead.
With just under two minutes left in the first half, Matt Prater put the Lions on the scoreboard after hitting a 53-yard field goal, and the Lions trailed the Bills 13-3 at half time.
After a one-yard touchdown run by Joe Banyard in the third quarter, and a two-yard touchdown run by Jordan Johnson in the fourth, the Bills jumped out to a 27-3 lead. Banyard also had a 40-yard run during the game, and finished with 68 yards on 14 carries for a 4.9 average per carry.
In one of the few bright spots for the Lions during this lackluster game, rookie running back Tion Green took a screen pass from Brad Kaaya 74-yards for a score about halfway into the final quarter. Green, an undrafted free agent out of Cincinnati, finished the game with eight carries for 63 yards on the ground, and four catches for 87 yards receiving.
“I knew coming into this game I was going to get a lot more opportunities than I had in previous games, “Green told Brandstatter after the game. “I just wanted to not squander my opportunities and take advantage of it.”
Kaaya, who finished 12-20 for 187 yards, two touchdowns and one interception, connected on a six-yard scoring pass with Dontez Ford to close out the scoring in the fourth quarter at 27-17.
This game may have been the last hurrah for many players with Saturday’s deadline to trim the roster down to 53 players for the regular season fast approaching.
“We are going to have to make some really tough decisions and we are going to have to turn some really good football players loose just in terms of cuts,” said Caldwell. “So that’s going to be tough. But nevertheless I think competition is good for us and I think it made us better, but we can’t keep them all.”
The Lions open the 2017 regular season at home against the Arizona Cardinals on September 10 at 1 p.m.