5 biggest takeaways from Lions' shortened game vs. Falcons

The Detroit Lions and Atlanta Falcons decided to end their game against one another early on Friday night after a serious injury to Morice Norris landed him in an area hospital. In respect to him and the Lions, the Falcons agreed to end the contest a quarter early, which was an extremely understandable move to make.

The Lions were playing decent football up until the point where there was an extended stoppage of play due to Norris' injury. Let's take a look at some observations from the contest prior to its ending during the early aughts of the fourth quarter.

5 takeaways from Lions' preseason bout vs. Falcons

Grant Stuard looks like a force

Stuard, who began his 2025 preseason for the Lions with a fumbled punt return, has settled in very nicely since that gaffe. The linebacker had two tackles on the night, and it would've been impossible for you to miss them given how powerful they were. He clearly has a hit stick, and it's great to see how sturdy he's been for the Lions' preseason defense this year. Stuard is certainly looking like the perfect backup to Alex Anzalone on the Lions' depth chart.

Tyleik Williams and Tate Ratledge didn't disappoint in their debuts

Williams and Ratledge were 50-50 bets regarding whether they'd play in this game, but they got some decent reps in. Ratledge had a few great blocks and a pancake on the night, and looked ready to square off with what ended up being a very strong pass rush from Atlanta on the evening. As for Williams, he had a highlight play as well: a double team that he ate up which opened up a stuff for Zach Cunningham.

Kyle Allen saw an opening and ran with it

Allen finished up his night with 120 passing yards after going 7-8 on his attempts, and also threw for two touchdowns. More importantly, he did not turn the football over once. His counterpart in the quarterback room, Hendon Hooker, did so twice. Allen subbed in for Hooker a bit sooner than expected and immediately landed a 68 yard bomb down the field which resulted in a touchdown for the Lions a few plays later.

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The depth chart is far from solidified, especially at quarterback. Allen has been getting praised in training camp, and it was finally evident why during a game. He just looked like a solid backup compared to Hooker in this one, and that will be a huge confidence boost for the veteran in Detroit's next few preseason games.

Hendon Hooker disappointed

Hooker, on the flip side, only had 38 passing yards on the night on seven completions out of 10 passes. He was once again appearing uncomfortable with stepping up in the pocket, opting instead to scramble. This led to two turnovers by Hooker. The third year quarterback is finally get a chance to be a legitimate QB2 behind Goff, and is instead watching that opportunity slip through his fingers and into the hands of Allen.

If he can simply remain confident in the pocket and make smart decisions with the football, he'd instantly look better than he has in these last two preseason games for the Lions. If he continues to turn it over, it's bound to raise some questions about whether Dan Campbell's speech on turnovers resulting in roster insecurity applies to Hooker.

The Lions' offensive line needs health

Before there was even a snap in this game, the Lions lost one of their offensive linemen. Tackle Justin Herron went down with what looked like some sort of arm injury during warmups, which left the Lions' depth at tackle extremely thin. The team handed the reins over primarily to Giovanni Manu, who actually did a solid job in protection during this contest.

Another injury came to Trystan Colon, who seemed fine after looking pretty shaken up on the field after a play in the second half. The team is already dealing with injury prone linemen in Taylor Decker and Dan Skipper, so adding more to their plate with this Herron injury just feels like a cosmic joke. Their depth at left tackle now reads as Decker and Manu, with Skipper having gotten injured in the teams' first preseason game.