ALLEN PARK, Mich. -- The Detroit Lions stole headlines Wednesday, after a dominant day of joint practice against the Miami Dolphins.
Wednesday's practice was lopsided. The defense was suffocating. The offense was electric. It was a complete showing for the team, in ways you hoped to see.
So, then, how did things play out on Day 2? Let's empty the notebook.
Detroit's offense struggled to get into a rhythm when it first lined up against the Dolphins' defense for a 7-on-7 period. Most of Jared Goff's pass attempts were checkdowns for minimal gains, quickly snuffed out by the Miami defense. The first two plays were checkdowns to Jahmyr Gibbs, followed by an incompletion to Jameson Williams before another incompletion on a slant route to Kalif Raymond. You heard a fired-up Dolphins' sideline, showing some fight and energy after Wednesday's poor performance. The next series this period featured a short crosser dump-off to Raymond and a checkdown to TE Zach Horton, then back-to-back touchdowns from Goff to Amon-Ra St. Brown. Overall, Detroit's starting offense scored twice on eight plays, but it took until the final two to score. Edge, Miami.
Another team period between starters placed the ball at Detroit's own 1, with the offense tasked with crawling out of a hole. They did what was asked of them. Detroit used its power run game, with David Montgomery picking up gains of 3 and 6 yards on the first two plays. It set up a third-and-1, easily converted again by Montgomery. On the next play, Goff hit St. Brown for a gain of 15 yards. Then, the starters subbed out. When they returned to the field, it was time for an 11-on-11 red-zone period. Gibbs took a handoff for a short gain, running behind Horton. The next three plays featured Goff throwing touchdown passes to St. Brown, Montgomery and Williams to end the period.
The next team period was a regular 11-on-11, without any meddling. On the very first play, starting from the 50-yard line, Goff hit Williams for a 50-yard touchdown. Williams split CB Kendall Sheffield and S Ifeatu Melifonwu with his speed, and Goff lofted a perfect pass in stride to him for the score. Williams got in Melifonwu's face after the play with the ball still in his hands, before St. Brown de-escalated the situation. Those two got in a scuffle to end Wednesday's practice.
This felt like the offense's best period of the day. After the touchdown, Gibbs picked up 3 yards on the ground, followed by an 8-yard completion from Goff to St. Brown. Next play, Montgomery picked up 20 on the ground behind Penei Sewell and Tate Ratledge. Montgomery and Gibbs were in the backfield together for a run on the next play, with Gibbs picking up about five. St. Brown had a step on a Dolphins DB for a potential touchdown, but went for a one-handed catch and couldn't pull it down. He was upset at himself. Perhaps he was going for the crowd reaction. Other highlights for the starting offense during this period include a 10-yard rush for Gibbs (juking Bradley Chubb), a tough catch on a slant by St. Brown through defensive pass interference and a nifty 5-yard touchdown run for Gibbs behind some excellent blocks from Glasgow and Ratledge.
The Lions ended the day with a late-game situational period. Here's the situation: Down 24-20, ball on the 48-yard line, 59 seconds left, fourth quarter.
Goff found Shane Zylstra for a gain of 6 on the first play. His second pass, intended for Kalif Raymond, was nearly picked off by Storm Duck. Goff hit Zylstra again on the third play -- a flip pass after a scramble for a first down, before spiking the ball to stop the clock with 23 seconds. On the very next play, Matthew Butler and Minkah Fitzpatrick teamed up for a sack to set up third-and-16. Goff hit St. Brown for a gain of 20 to the Miami 26, spiking the ball with five seconds left. A quick out to Williams set up one final play: needing 19 yards for a touchdown with two seconds.
Goff dropped back and looked for St. Brown, but Ifeatu Melifonwu was there in coverage to force a difficult throw. The ball wasn't close to being caught. Win for Miami.
It sounds like during the opening 7-on-7 period, Miami's defense got the better of Detroit's offense. The Dolphins scored touchdowns on the first two plays of the period and held up much better against Detroit's linebackers. A bit later, Dolphins WR Dee Eskridge mossed Lions CB D.J. Reed during a team red-zone period as well -- a highlight reel play for the Dolphins, who otherwise didn't get much going downfield vs. this Detroit secondary. The Dolphins scored two touchdowns on screens and one on a pass tipped at the line of scrimmage, then caught by Malik Washington, who then snuck into the end zone. Terrion Arnold had a quiet day -- in a good way. This was his first practice participating in team periods since July 29. He didn't allow anything notable, picking up where he left off.
When Detroit's defensive line was on the field, you saw how dominant they could be. DJ Reader was an immovable object, giving the interior of Miami's offensive line fits. Aidan Hutchinson notched at least two more sacks on Thursday and had a couple more pressures that could've been ruled sacks. Davenport had one himself. Alex Anzalone recorded a sack on an untouched blitz, too.
While Miami's second-string offense had a more efficient day on Thursday, Detroit's starting defense is built to defend this Miami offense. The quick-hit plays are all Miami was able to get without Tyreek Hill. He's a game-changer, obviously, but the plays that were called weren't generating many explosive plays during full team periods with all 11 defenders.
The best example came at the end of practice. The Dolphins' offense had the same situational drill as the Lions: Down 24-20, ball on the 48-yard line, 59 seconds left, fourth quarter. It didn't go half as well as it did for the Lions offense.
On the first play of the series, Tua Tagovailoa checked down to Nick Westbrook-Ikhine, but the pass was broken up by Amik Robertson and Anzalone. On the next play, Tagovailoa again checked down to Jaylen Wright, picking up 3 yards to bring up third-and-7. Tagovailo's third-down pass to TE Hayden Rucci was incomplete, with Brian Branch in coverage.
And on fourth-and-7, Tagovailoa's pass to Tarik Black was broken up by Branch. Four plays, three yards. Dominant series for the defense.