Dave Birkett

Detroit Free Press

PITTSBURGH – New year, same old problems on the offensive line.

The Detroit Lions opened preseason play Friday with a 30-17 win over the Pittsburgh Steelers at Heinz Field, but their reshuffled offensive line showed little improvement from last year, when the Lions finished last in the NFL in rushing and allowed 44 sacks.

Matthew Stafford completed 4 of 6 passes for 58 yards in his one series of work, but he took two big hits by free blitzers and lost a fumble when rookie left tackle Taylor Decker allowed a sack.

“My initial impressions is (Decker) looks like a young player that has talent,” Lions coach Jim Caldwell said when asked to assess the play of the Lions’ first-round pick. “So he’s going to make some mistakes here and there, but there’s still no reason to put the ball on the ground. We still got to protect that ball. That’s key.”

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Stafford, who struggled with turnovers early last season, completed three long third downs with passes to Cole Wick, Marvin Jones and Anquan Boldin before the turnover, and nearly a fourth with his legs.

On third-and-2 from the Steelers’ 17-yard line, Stafford scrambled for a gain of 7 yards.

That play, however, was nullified by a holding penalty on Decker, and James Harrison beat Decker around the edge on the next play and knocked the ball loose from Stafford’s hand from behind.

“I had to hold the ball a little bit longer than I wanted to on that play,” Stafford said. “We had a little bit of a miscommunication outside that kind of slowed me down, it made me hold onto it a little bit longer. Those guys on third-and-long, they pin their ears back. (Harrison’s) a heck of a player and I thought the young kid did a good job on him most of the game.”

Decker, the 16th overall pick out of Ohio State, played the first two series Friday along with most of the rest of the first-team offensive line.

Taylor Decker debuts tonight as ex-OSU teammate Joey Bosa waits

“I think that with any player there’s going to be ups and downs,” Decker said. “You’ve just got to be able to respond. You can’t let one bad play turn into 10 bad plays. You’ve just got to respond, go back out there and keep playing.”

Despite their blocking miscues early, Stafford and the Lions amassed 379 yards while debuting their no-huddle offense, forced one turnover on defense and got a 96-yard touchdown return from rookie Dwayne Washington in the kicking game.

Dan Orlovsky replaced Stafford on the Lions’ second offensive series and finished out the first half. He completed 16 of 25 passes for 174 yards, threw a 28-yard catch-and-run touchdown to a wide-open Andre Roberts, and had an interception that Doran Grant returned 39 yards for a Steelers score.

Pittsburgh, which played without starting edge rushers Jarvis Jones and Bud Dupree along with offensive stars Ben Roethlisberger, Le’Veon Bell and Antonio Brown, led, 14-13, at halftime and 17-16 early in the fourth quarter before Washington broke open the game with his return.

A seventh-round pick out of Washington who’s vying for a backup job at running back, Washington followed a phalanx of blockers down the right sideline, made kicker Chris Boswell miss around the 35-yard line and outraced receiver Isaac Blakeney to the end zone.

The Lions forced a three-and-out on their next series before Jake Rudock hit Jace Billingsley with a 27-yard touchdown to cap the scoring. Billingsley, an undrafted rookie from Eastern Oregon, beat four defenders en route to the end zone.

“It was all catch and run, I’ll give him all that,” Rudock said. “That was great. All I had to do was just get it out there for him. He did a heck of a job finishing it.”

A sixth-round pick out of Michigan, Rudock completed 8 of 11 passes for 72 yards to make a case for the backup quarterback job.

Zach Zenner, who led the NFL in rushing last preseason, had 24 yards rushing on seven carries – all in the first half – and caught three passes for 32 yards, and Roberts, who’s vying for a backup job at receiver, had a game-high 57 yards receiving on three catches and a nice punt return.

The Lions played Friday defensive stalwarts Ziggy Ansah, Darius Slay and Haloti Ngata, though all three took part in pre-game warmups.

Ansah left Wednesday’s joint practice with the Steelers early for heat-related reasons, while Slay did not take part in the practice for what Lions coach Jim Caldwell termed a “medical situation.”

Tight end Eric Ebron (ankle) and running back Ameer Abdullah (shoulder) also did not play for the Lions, and linebacker Zaviar Gooden left with a brain injury.

Contact Dave Birkett: dbirkett@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @davebirkett. Download our Lions Xtra app for free on Apple and Android!