Saturday was supposed to be a prime opportunity for the Detroit Lions depth players to shine. With their final opportunity to justify a spot of the 53-man roster—or put out good tape for the other 32 teams—Detroit’s reserves fell flat. Outside of one offensive drive led by Kyle Allen in the first quarter, the Lions looked flat on both sides of the ball. The Texans dominated the trenches, their skill position players made more plays, and their quarterback play made Hendon Hooker look like the odd man out again in Detroit’s quarterback room.
Here’s how the Lions’ preseason finale played out.
First quarter
The game kicked off with an impressive return from Grant Stuard on a well-blocked kickoff.
That gave Kyle Allen, who surprisingly started, the opportunity to drive starting from his own 45-yard line. Unfortunately, he went three-and-out after two failed runs and a sack on third-and-long blitz from the Texans.
Jackson Meeks nearly pinned the Texans inside the 5-yard line on a nice Jack Fox punt, but he was barely touching the end zone, resulting in the touchback. The Texans drove to midfield under third-string quarterback Graham Mertz, and he kept the drive alive with an 11-yard scramble on third-and-7. On the next set of downs, the Texans faced a fourth-and-inches. Houston was going to go for it, but a false start moved them back 5 yards, and they opted to try a 53-yard field goal, and Kai’imi Fairbairn drilled it. 3-0 Texans.
On the ensuing kickoff, a holding penalty on bubble tight end Zach Horton forced Detroit to start on their 15-yard line. Allen earned the team’s initial first down with a dump off to Craig Reynolds for 12 yards. Reynolds picked up another 8 yards on a catch where he made a defender miss. Isaac TeSlaa picked up a third-down conversion with a 9-yard reception where he had the cornerback stumbling out of his break. Then a play later, Allen dropped a beautiful 32-yard touchdown pass to TeSlaa. 7-3 Lions.
After a strong return from the Texans, Houston moved to the 26-yard line with another Mertz scramble to end the first quarter.
Second quarter
The Texans picked up a third-and-2 with a dump off to tight end Harrison Bryant for 4 yards. Two plays later, running back Woody Marks knifed his way through Detroit’s defensive front for a 9-yard touchdown. Keith Cooper missed a tackle in the backfield on the play. 10-7 Texans.
Hendon Hooker took over and started with a 14-yard dump-off to Jacob Saylors. But after a couple of runs for 6 yards, Hooker overshot Ronnie Bell on a deep shot and Detroit punted it away.
Houston drove to midfield and faced a third-and-11 thanks to a nice tackle for loss by Mitchell Agude. However, Mertz converted with a 26-yard pass to an open Juwann Winfree against zone coverage. A few plays later, Mertz hit former Lions Quintez Cephus for 6-yard touchdown over cornerback D.J. Miller. The extra point failed due to a botched hold. 16-7 Texans.
The Lions went three-and-out after three straight runs failed to produce a first down. Detroit was going to go for it on fourth down, but Horton committed a false start and Detroit punted.
The Texans then had a chance at a two-minute drill. A penalty-filled drive (on both teams) ended with a sack from Al-Quadin Muhammad.
Third quarter
Kedon Slovis took over the Texans offense to start the second half. Slovis converted a key third-and-3 with a connection to Cornell Powell for 20 yards, and then a pass interference on D.J. Miller pushed the Texans into the red zone. However, the Lions defense stepped up from there. Loren Strickland made a great tackle for loss, and a couple of Texans penalties pushed them back even further. A big third-down hit from Strickland forced a 35-yard field goal, which Fairbairn promptly missed.
Hooker drilled a nice ball to Ronnie Bell for 30 yards to open the drive, but it was called back due to a holding on Zach Johnson. Hooker would check down on the ensuing third-and-long, coming up 7-yards short on the Saylors completion.
The Texans responded with a slow and steady drive into Lions territory. On the final play of the third quarter, Houston converted a third-and-1 down to Detroit’s 25-yard line.
Fourth quarter
On the first play of the final quarter, Cephus bobbled a pass and it landed right in the arms of Lions corner Tyson Russell.
But Hooker gave it right back with an overthrow directly in the arms of Texans safety Jalen Mills.
It took the Texans just two plays to get down to the 1-yard line. Despite a tackle for loss on first down, Houston scored on the follow play—a play-action boot to Daniel Jackson. 23-7 Texans.
Hooker tried to spark the next offensive series with a 25-yard scramble. But on third-and-7, his pass to Malik Taylor sailed well over the receiver’s head. Detroit opted to go for it, and Hooker couldn’t connect with Dominic Lovett.
The Texans moved down into field goal position but stalled there. Anthony Pittman had a nice tackle for loss that forced a third-and-long, and Slovis overthrew a deep shot. Fairbairn redeemed himself with a 48-yard field goal. 26-7 Texans.
Hooker, again, started the next drive out promisingly. An 18-yard strike to Bell quickly moved them into Texans territory, then a dump-off to running back Deon Jackson gained another 18 yards. But Hooker took a 10-yard sack on the next play. The Lions were able to work their way back to a fourth-and-5, however Hooker tried to escape the pocket and ran himself into a sack, turning the ball over on downs.
The Houston Texans were able to drain the rest of the clock, ending both teams’ preseason.
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