4 winners and 3 losers from Lions' dropped game vs. Chargers

The Detroit Lions dropped their preseason opener to the Los Angeles Chargers by a final score of 7-34. An equal parts bad defensive game and bad quarterback game led to such a rout, with neither of Detroit's backup signal callers piecing anything worth talking about together in four quarters of action.

Detroit's secondary was also pretty disheartening, but it was made up for thanks to some really encouraging playing time from 2 Lions defensive linemen who are working their way up the depth chart for the team.

On offense for Detroit, despite how rough it was to try and score with Kyle Allen and Hendon Hooker on the field, there were a few bright spots worth mentioning, as well. Let's dive into the winners and losers from the Lions' big preseason loss.

Winners

Isaac TeSlaa

Talk about an inspiring debut.

TeSlaa might not have really tacked on major yards or scores, but he did a great job of showcasing one of his best attributes in the limited action he saw on Thursday night: his hands. His route running was crisp, and he managed to snag two passes for 46 total yards. He had obvious breakaway speed under his belt, and he's showing exactly why he could work his way into the rotation in John Morton's deep bal offense.

Ahmed Hassanein

Another rookie who really made his impact felt was Hassanein, who was clearly showing that he had picked up a thing or two from Aidan Hutchinson in training camp - as promised. Hassanein had a few near sacks during the game, and two really great tackles to prevent Chargers running backs from breaking free for big gains. His tackle right before halftime was especially inspiring.

Craig Reynolds

Reynolds was a machine in the Lions' first preseason game. He finished up the night with 10 carries for 38 yards and the lone touchdown for the Lions on the night. He just looked like the strong, explosive running back the Lions know him to be. And, he did a great job of protecting the football despite some pretty hard tackles he ate.

Rock Ya-Sin

On the edges, the Lions gave up a lot of points to the Chargers. However, there was at least one defender who was obviously not there to mess around with his place in the Lions' depth chart: Rock Ya-Sin. The seventh year cornerback was, truthfully, the Lions' best secondary defender during the entire evening. That's just because with his two tackles on the night, he stopped the Chargers from scoring in the red zone twice with huge hits.

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Losers

Kyle Allen

Allen is in a tight QB2 competition with Hendon Hooker in training camp right now. You would not know that from watching his - or Hooker's - performances last night. Allen threw for two interceptions and just didn't look comfortable with deep balls throughout the game. He had a few good passes to both TeSlaa and Dominic Lovett in the flat, but he just looked lost.

Not the performance you want out of him considering he is the veteran in this equation.

Hendon Hooker

We can't judge Allen's performance without also pointing out how bad Hooker's was, as well. He threw one pick and also looked confused out on the field. There were clear communication mishaps between himself and the sideline, and he was left to use his legs to get any sort of yardage against Los Angeles. That's just not what you want out of Hooker, who has been waiting for his moment to prove he can be a reliable backup to Goff for quite some time.

Dominic Lovett

While TeSlaa really shined, fellow rookie receiver Lovett did not. The lowlight of his evening came on the last play of the night, when a Chargers defender quite easily ripped a well placed ball from Hooker out of Lovett's hands for an interception to ice the game. Lovett had another dropped pass in the first half of the game, that time from Allen.

He looked perfectly fine as a punt returner, which is what he could be slated to become in the Lions' depth chart, but he did not look ready to be a bonafide part of their offense last night. He has to be stronger and smarter with his hand placement in future games this preseason.

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