Lions 3 Q's: Stafford plays well in first significant exhibition action

Free Press sports writer Carlos Monarrez tackles the burning questions facing the Detroit Lions following their victory over the New York Jets, 16-6, in Saturday’s exhibition game at Ford Field.

Quarterback Matthew Stafford played just a hair into the second quarter. How did he look in his first meaning game action?

If you look at the stats alone, Stafford seemed great. He was 8 of 10 for 84 yards with a touchdown pass to Marvin Jones and a 135 passer rating. He did play pretty well, but his passes weren’t consistently on target. Stafford also made two nice deep passes to Golden Tate. But he threw high on a short pass to Tate, who could only tip the ball and almost had it intercepted. He also threw a short pass behind Marvin Jones. But Stafford led the Lions to the end zone and 10 points. That’s pretty good for a little more than a quarter of work. Stafford admitted there’s a “bunch to clean up,” and if there is he’s running out of time. He’ll get his last and most significant test of the exhibition next season Friday against the defending Super Bowl champion Patriots.

More:Lions first-half observations: Matthew Stafford, defense solid vs. New York Jets

With Kerry Hyder out and Ziggy Ansah still not practicing, how did the defense do?

First, let’s get something out of the way. The Jets are terrible, especially on offense. When starting quarterback Christian Hackenberg unintentionally spikes the ball on a pass, you know the Jets are a bad team. At one point in the game, the Lions had more points (10) than the Jets had net offensive yards (3). Ouch. The Lions played pretty well on defense. They got decent pressure up front, especially from defensive tackle Akeem Spence, who made consecutive great plays on a sack and a run stop. The Lions got a decent rush up front with Cornelius Washington filling in for Hyder. In the fourth quarter, rookie Jamal Agnew broke up a Bryce Petty pass in the end zone that forced the Jets to settle for a field goal and their first points. Again, the Jets stink. But the Lions’ defense did its job.

More:Watch this: Lions' Marvin Jones, teammates have double-dutch TD celebration

This was our first real look at a football game after the $100-million renovations. How was it?

Lights, camera, lights! And yet more lights! We already saw the huge LED video boards above either end zone and the LED band that encircles the field. A new addition has been countless moving spotlights and multicolored strobes. The pyrotechnics return to announce the team’s return. There’s now a spotlight that finds the leaping lion logo at midfield before the national anthem and at halftime. Sometimes there’s so much random light movement you feel like you’re in a nightclub on Ibiza. There’s also a new in-stadium host who looks like a young Kurt Warner — or an older Jonas brother — and, at least for this night, he came off as more of a human commercial more than a host. The sound was really glitch, too. Poor young Kurt. The Lions get points for making the experience more dynamic, but they need to cut back on the scripting and add more fun and spontaneity. And no marriage proposals.

Contact Carlos Monarrez: cmonarrez@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @cmonarrez. Download our Lions Xtra app for free on Apple and Android!