The Detroit Lions went into their Monday night bout with a tough task ahead of them. Not only was their secondary depleted with injuries, but MVP-candidate Baker Mayfield was in town. After letting the Kansas City Chiefs walk all over them last week, there was not a lot of hope for Detroit’s defense.
But the Lions defense put up an unbelievable performance for all four quarters, holding the Bucs to a season-low nine points. In fact, they held the entire Buccaneers offense to just 252 yards—their lowest of the season. On top of that, they forced two turnovers and three turnover on downs.
It was a jaw-dropping performance, and one that the Lions needed on a day the offense wasn’t at it’s best. The Lions walked away with a 24-9 victory and move to 6-2 on the season at the bye week.
Here’s how the game happened:
First quarter
The Detroit Lions offense was up first after the Bucs won the coin toss and deferred. That allowed Detroit to take an early lead thanks to a couple of explosive pass plays. The first was a simple flair to running back Jahmyr Gibbs, who made a couple Bucs defenders miss to gain 30 yards.
After an illegal contact penalty kept Detroit’s drive alive on third down, Jared Goff made them pay by hitting Amon-Ra St. Brown on a 27-yard touchdown pass. 7-0 Lions.
Detroit’s defense played some complementary football to start, forcing the Bucs offense into a quick three-and-out. Baker Mayfield stumbled his way into a sack on second down (credited to Jack Campbell), and after getting flushed from the pocket on third down, the Bucs quarterback hit Sterling Shepard well short of the first down.
The Lions hit yet another explosive pass to St. Brown for 24 yards, but the drive would end three plays later when YaYa Diaby strip sacked Goff and Tampa recovered.
But, again, the Lions defense was up for the challenge. Despite good field position, the Bucs could not manage their first first down of the game. On third-and-7, Jack Campbell blew up a wide receiver screen for a loss of 2 yards.
The Lions put together a strong drive to get out of their own zone. It was highlighted by a swing pass to Gibbs that went for 24 yards and another 16-yard gain from St. Brown. However, when they got into the red zone, the offense struggled. Ultimately, they faced a fourth-and-2 from the Bucs’ 15-yard line and opted to go for it. Goff took a deep shot to Isaac TeSlaa, but the throw was out of the rookie receiver’s reach, and Detroit turned the ball over on downs.
Tampa finally earned a first down via a pass interference penalty on Rock Ya-Sin that moved the ball 23 yards downfield. But that was it for the Bucs that drive thanks to Alim McNeill. The Lions defensive tackle battled through a double team and knocked down a Mayfield pass attempt on third down to force Tampa’s third straight punt.
Detroit’s offense still failed to add to their lead. While their drive started promisingly with a screen to David Montgomery for 15 yards, their struggles in the run game had the fighting the sticks. A -2 yard run from Montgomery was followed by a false start. While Detroit was able to work their way back into a third-and-5, Goff was sacked—leading to another punt.
Tampa would punt again after picking up just a single first down. On third-and-6, Mayfield tried to target Mike Evans, but Ya-Sin did a great job forcing the receiver out of bounds before he could get a second foot in.
Just as it looked like the Lions were about to go three-and-out due to a couple of penalties to start the drive, an illegal contact penalty on the Bucs moved the chains on third down. On the very next play, Jahmyr Gibbs took a handoff 78 yards untouched for the huge touchdown. 14-0 Lions.
The Lions defense continued its dominant half with another forced three-and-out. Mayfield appeared to hit Evans on a deep shot, but upon landing it appears the Bucs receiver lost consciousness and dropped the ball. Evans was immediately ruled out with a concussion and shoulder injury. On third down, Derrick Barnes picked up a sack thanks to strong coverage from Detroit’s secondary.
But Tampa would get one more shot in the first half after the Lions offense went nowhere. A questionable offensive pass interference penalty on Jameson Williams put the Lions behind the sticks, and a third-down pass was batted down at the line.
With good field position (own 38) and 2:52 left, the Bucs immediately squandered it. Shepard caught a quick pass from Mayfield, but Amik Robertson punched the ball out and Aidan Hutchinson recovered.
Detroit quickly found themselves in a third-and-5, and Goff’s attempt to Williams was low, forcing a long field goal attempt. Jake Bates’ 55-yard attempt went wide left, giving Tampa yet another chance before the half.
But, YET AGAIN, the defense came up with a huge play. On a overthrown ball from Mayfield, Arthur Maulet wrestled the ball away from Cade Otton for an impressive interception.
But the comedy of offensive errors continued. After getting backed up from a sack, Jared Goff threw a terrible ball into coverage and it was easily picked off by Jamel Dean.
That gave Mayfield 21 seconds and three timeouts to finally get on the board. After two completed passes, the Bucs were in field goal range, and Chase McLaughlin drilled a 53-yard kick to make it 14-3 Lions at halftime.
Third quarter
Tampa looked to quickly cut the game to a one-score deficit, and they did with a long, sustained drive. And 18-yard pass to Emeka Egbuka got the Bucs moving early. But the key play was a fourth-and-2 in Lions territory. Rachaad White converted with a 4-yard run in the teeth of the Lions defense. Two plays later, Mayfield hit Tez Johnson on a wide receiver screen the rookie took for a 22-yard touchdown.
Tampa’s two-point conversion failed, making it 14-9 Lions just over six minutes into the second half.
With the pressure back on the Lions offense, Detroit appeared to wake up. After going just 1-for-6 on third downs in the first half, they immediately picked up their first attempt with a 14-yard play action pass to Brock Wright. Then another screen to Gibbs earned 31 yards down to the Buccaneers 5-yard line, where Gibbs crashed in for the touchdown and a 21-9 Lions lead.
Tampa quickly went three-and-out after Baker’s attempted deep shot to Egbuka was several yards too deep. After the drive Lions cornerback Rock Ya-Sin went to the locker room.
The Lions offense picked up another third-down conversion by hitting LaPorta for 8 yards, but on the ensuing third-and-2, Montgomery was stopped a yard short. That left the Lions with a big decision to start the fourth quarter: go for it on fourth-and-1 from the 50-yard line or punt to Tampa.
Fourth quarter
The Lions opted to go for it and an end around to St. Brown—who lateraled it to Gibbs—gained JUST ENOUGH to move the sticks. But that was it for the drive, after Goff failed to find St. Brown on third down. Not close enough to kick a field goal, the Lions punted and pinned the Bucs at their own 11-yard line.
Tampa’s ensuing drive had a bit of controversy. On a fourth-and-2 play from their own 37-yard line, Mayfield found Cade Otton, who stretched the ball just far enough to earn a first down. The Lions challenged whether Otton completed the catch, and the call was upheld. BUT THEN, the refs looked closer, and determined Otton was short of the first down, giving the ball back to Detroit.
The Lions offense gained exactly 0 yards on three plays, but Jake Bates bailed them out with a 58-yard field goal to make it 24-9 Lions with 10:18 left in the game.
The Buccaneers had to fight for every single inch against the Lions defense. They led an 18-play, 56-yard drive, including two fourth-down conversions (one via penalty). But on their third fourth-down conversion, Mayfield couldn’t find Egbuka with Nick Whiteside all over him, and Bucs turned it over on downs with 4:24 left.
The game wasn’t quite over yet, though. The Lions went three-and-out, bleeding all of Tampa’s timeouts—but using up just 14 seconds of game clock.
Mayfield had 3:58 left from his own 33-yard line to score two touchdowns and a two-point conversion—with no timeouts. It started out promisingly for him with a 30-yard pass to Egbuka. But a sack from Tyrus Wheat burned a ton of clock and forced a third-and-21. Eventually, Mayfield turned it over on downs to seal the game.
Detroit would bleed nearly the remainder of the clock from there.
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