Tate Ratledge offers strong response following dreadful debut with Lions

The Detroit Lions had a tough day against the Green Bay Packers in Week 1, and the problems were plentiful on both offense and defense.

For Detroit's purposes, the team's line play was easily the reason for the defeat. Offensively, the Lions didn't protect Jared Goff, allowing far too much pressure in his face. It prevented the run game and passing game from getting going. Defensively, the Lions didn't pressure Jordan Love at all, allowing him too much time in the pocket to make big throws.

Pro Football Focus recognized this, and writer Thomas Valentine cited Detroit's offensive line as the biggest reason for the defeat. Christian Mahogany and Ratledge were revealed as two of the worst-graded linemen in the league, putting an easy bullseye squarely on the middle of the line.

"It was an all-around tough day for the Lions' offense, and a lot of their issues stemmed from a lack of interior presence. The new starting guard duo, Christian Mahogany and Tate Ratledge, struggled, conceding a combined seven pressures and three sacks. Mahogany earned a 43.9 PFF pass-blocking grade, while rookie Ratledge was at a 39.2 mark."

Replacing Kevin Zeitler and Frank Ragnow, a pair of elite Pro Bowl veterans, was never going to be easy or immediate. The Lions will have to hope their young linemen gain confidence as time goes by and continue to learn lessons as they play together week to week. There's little doubt the debut was very rough.

Ratledge didn't mince words after poor Lions debut, plans on improving

Even though Ratledge is a rookie, he wasn't hiding from criticism. Following the game, he called himself out first for the poor performance, and admitted the game he had wasn't up to the standard of the Lions or the team's offensive front.

"Obviously, starting (with) myself, I got to go out there and be better. I did not have my best game where I needed to play (well). Did not play to this team's standard, especially not this offensive line room's standard. So, I've got to go in, go to work, and try to get better from it."

READ MORE: Lions get trounced by a vengeful Caleb Williams in latest Week 2 prediction

While Ratledge obviously didn't let the team down by himself, the fact that he feels like he did shows his leadership and mindset. Clearly, Ratledge wants to get better so he doesn't stick out up front anymore as he did in Week 1.

Moving forward, Ratledge is very excited to see what he can do to turn things around. He plans on hitting the film room in the coming days to see what tweaks can be made with improvements in mind.

"I just know that I have to come out with a better showing in weeks to come. It's not our standard, not my standard as a player. So, (I've) got to get into this film and see what I can fix."

Betting against Ratledge stepping up and finding a way to steadily improve would be foolish. He's only a rookie, and will no doubt find a way to gain confidence as the year progresses. With his first game under his belt, the focus