Thursday night was a big reminder that there’s a pretty significant difference between practice and a game.
For much of training camp, the Detroit Lions seemed like they were humming along nicely. We didn’t see a ton of mental errors, turnovers, or anything that looked particularly alarming. But on Thursday night, when the Lions opened their preseason schedule with a bout against the Los Angeles Chargers, there wasn’t much that went right.
Now, no one here is sounding the alarms. It was just the first of four preseason games, and the goal is not to look perfect out of the gate.