Baker Mayfield – Page 2

Five key reasons for the Detroit Lions 20-16 loss to Tampa Bay Bucs

DETROIT — On the stats page, the Detroit Lions dominated the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. But on the field Detroit couldn’t take advantage of its chances and lost 20-16 at Ford Field on Sunday.

The Lions had the edge in first downs, 26-14; third-down efficiency, 7/17 to 2/10; total yards 463 to 216; and total plays 83 to 47. Sounds impressive but the scoreboard is what matters. Also, Detroit was just 1 of 7 in the Red Zone.

“We fought, we got down there, certainly on offense we doubled up on yardage, we get down to the red zone and can’t get TDs, that was the story of the game,’’ Lions coach Dan Campbell said. “Defensively I thought we played lights out, gave us two shots there at the end of the game and we couldn’t finish it out.’’

The Lions beat the Bucs twice last season — 20-6 in October and then a big divisional round win, 31-23, in January. With the win, the Bucs moved to 2-0 while the Lions fell to 1-1.

“It’s early in the year but it’s a good learning experience and chance for us to dive into what went wrong and how can we fix it,’’ quarterback Jared Goff said. “If I remember correctly we started 1-1 last year and we were able to respond from that pretty well.’’

Here are five of the main reasons the Lions lost:

ONE: At the end of the first half, the Lions had second-and-10 at Tampa’s 17-yard line with 18 seconds left. Amon-Ra St. Brown caught an 8-yard pass up the middle, Goff spiked the ball leaving 4 seconds but the Lions were penalized for 12 men on the field and the half was over. If they had made a field goal, they wouldn’t have needed a touchdown in the fourth quarter, they could have won with just another 3 points. “It’s a massive error on my part no one else’s,’’ Campbell said. “It was between hurry-up field goal and clocking it, it was 100 percent my fault.’’

TWO: Going 1 for 7 in the red zone was a killer. “We just never felt real comfortable and once you get out far enough and you end up in these third-and-longs in the red zone that’s where it gets pretty hard, when getting close to 10-yd line it’s hard to throw it from there from what they could do coverage-wise,’’ Campbell said. “We couldn’t quite get the rhythm, we couldn’t get in sync and ultimately it hurt us.’’ Detroit was at Tampa’s 11-yard line on a fourth-and-8 with 1:01 remaining. A 5-yard pass to Jahmyr Gibbs, turned the ball over to the Bucs. Goff said the Bucs’ defense got “really stingy” in the red zone.

THREE: Goff threw a pair of interceptions, including his first pass of the game. On that one it looked to him like Jameson Williams was man-handled but no pass interference call was made. He finished the game 34 of 55 for 307 yards, zero touchdowns and those 2 interceptions. Campbell is not worried about Goff. “He’ll rebound. Has he played better? Yeah, he’s played better. I know him, he never stays down,’’ Campbell said. “… He’s going to take ownership and he’s going to be better. That’s the way he’s wired and that’s what makes him who he is.’’

FOUR: Bucs quarterback Baker Mayfield completed just a dozen passes (185 yards) and was sacked five times. He threw one touchdown pass and one interception. He also carried the ball five times for 34 yards. Even though his numbers weren’t spectacular he was in control. That was not a surprise.

FIVE: Aidan Hutchinson was an edge rusher on a mission, finishing with 4.5 sacks. “His motor is unbelievable. To be able to play at the rate he plays at, at that intensity for that many snaps in a game, it’s rare,’’ Campbell said. “On top of that he’s got talent and he’s continued to develop his different moves.’’ Detroit’s defense held the Bucs numbers down but also allowed too many chunk plays including a 41-yard touchdown play by Chris Godwin.

UP NEXT: Lions at Arizona Cardinals, 4:25 p.m. on Sunday, Sept. 22.

Five things to watch as Lions host Bucs; injury update and prediction

With the overtime win over the Rams, the Detroit Lions held strong to beat one of their playoff opponents from last year. On Sunday, they’ll have a chance at another, the Tampa Bay Bucs.

In January the Lions topped the Bucs 31-23 in the divisional round. Both teams have seen a few changes but the main cast of characters is intact for both.

“It doesn’t matter who you play. You have to find a way to win them. I think what’s unique is, I think the Rams last week and the Bucs here are certainly – they have a good chance of winning those divisions,’’ Lions coach Dan Campbell said. “They are certainly going to be competitive and be right there in the race, and so this is a chance to get an early one. You get an early one and you just don’t know what this is going to mean down the road and if you can put some money in the bank early in the season, it will pay big dividends for you down the road.’’

Campbell looks for improvement every week. It’s good with a win under their belt but that was just a start. And, remember, it took overtime.

“Now in the moment, it’s – we just have to improve. I mentioned it the other day, we just have to get a little bit better and if we can do that as individuals, coaches, players, everything, then it’ll raise the floor of our team significantly this week,’’ Campbell said.

Kickoff is at 1 p.m. at Ford Field.

Five things to watch against the Bucs:

ONE: The Lions defense must improve on tackling and make more big plays when the chance is there. Carlton Davis and Brian Branch missed on possible interceptions in the opener while Aidan Hutchinson and Marcus Davenport missed sacks. Defensive coordinator Aaron Glenn saw the positives too. “When you throw it 50 times and you average six yards per attempt, that’s right in our wheelhouse of where we want to be at. So, we were happy about that, and again, just like I said in the run game, we held guys to 3.6 yards per carry I think on 20-something runs. So, that’s who we are as a defense,’’ Glenn said. They could have their hands full with QB Baker Mayfield who threw four TD passes last week in win over the Commanders.

TWO: The Lions offense could take advantage of a beat-up Bucs’ secondary. Safety Antoine Winfield (foot) is expected to miss. Three corners were lost in the Bucs win last week – Zyan McCollum (concussion), Josh Hayes (ankle) and Bryce Hall who is out for the season. “This is a dangerous team. So, we’ll see who they have available here on Sunday, but more than anything, we have to handle all the variety of looks that they can present to us, first and second down, and third down,’’ Lions offensive coordinator Ben Johnson said.

THREE: The Lions’ multi-dimensional offense had enough left in the tank to win in overtime last week. They did it with Amon-Ra St. Brown getting just three catches. Getting him more involved is a priority but it wasn’t shocking since Jameson Williams came up big with 121 receiving yards. “That’s going to happen, and I think what made us a good offense in the past is that last week it was Jameson and this week it could be him again, but it could be anyone. It could be Sam (LaPorta), it could be Kalif (Raymond), it could be – obviously St. Brown is a big part of it, but it could be anyone and that’s what’s good about our offense,’’ quarterback Jared Goff said.

FOUR: In his first NFL game, cornerback Terrion Arnold was notched two pass interference calls against the Rams. It’s not an unusual phenomena for a rookie, but something that needs work. “We have to make sure that we coach those things out of him. ‘Where’s your hand placement? Understand where do you want to turn your head in certain situations on the ball.’ So, I have no issue with that player getting better at that, because I know he will because he’s a quick learner and he’s a fast learner,’’ Glenn said.

FIVE: Look for defensive lineman D.J. Reader to play in his first game for the Lions. “He’s a man’s man. When it comes to the run game, he’s going to be a huge addition to us, but I don’t want guys to just think that’s just who he is, because he has sneaky, athletic ability to be able to help on the passing game too, because he can push the pocket,’’ Glenn said. “Anytime you bring a player like that back in the fold, it only helps us as a defense.”

LIONS INJURY UPDATE: S Ifeatu Melifonwu (ankle) and WR Isaiah Williams (abdomen) are out; DL Marcus Davenport (groin) is doubtful; RT Penei Sewell (ankle), S Kerby Joseph (hamstring) and WR Jameson Williams (ankle) are questionable.

PREDICTION: Lions 27, Bucs 24

Detroit Lions headed to NFC Championship after 31-23 win over Tampa Bay Bucs

DETROIT — It is not a dream.

The Detroit Lions, who have dwelled in the NFL basement for far too long, came through with a 31-23 win over the Tampa Bay Bucs in an NFL divisional round game on Sunday to advance to the NFC Championship game next Sunday at San Francisco.

The Lions, your Lions, are one win away from playing in the Super Bowl.

“Here we are, sitting one of the last four teams. That was – that’s the type of game that I envisioned against Tampa,” coach Dan Campbell said. “I mean, that’s an outstanding team. That’s a hot team. We knew it was going to come down to the end.”

It had not completely sunk in with the players after the last bit of confetti had fallen from the Ford Field rafters.

“Frank (Ragnow) said it to me when we got in the locker room, ‘We’re playing in the NFC Championship.’ Of course we always work for this and towards this, but it’s here and it’s real. It’s kind of surreal in a sense,’’ said left tackle Taylor Decker, who was drafted by the Lions in 2016 and has experienced plenty of heartache.

Coach Dan Campbell has believed in this bunch all along. He repeatedly has said throughout the season that they “were built for this.”

“Dan talks about it all the time. This team was built a certain way for a reason,’’ Decker said. “And everybody in this locker room was hand-selected to be here. It’s a special group.”

They are not done. It’s back to work on Monday to prepare for the 49ers who defeated the Packers in a divisional game on Saturday night.

Five reasons the Lions won:

1.Let’s start with the very end. Linebacker Derrick Barnes intercepted Baker Mayfield on a second-and-5 from Tampa’s 15-yard line with 1:33 remaining and the Bucs down by 8 points. It sealed the win, allowing Jared Goff to go on the field for the victory formation – just like last week against the Rams. Aidan Hutchinson said it wasn’t the call played. Barnes said he wanted to see if Mayfield was going to throw the dagger behind him. “I turned around and I see the ball coming and I was like, ‘There’s no way I’m going to drop this.’’ He was so emotional he doesn’t even remember getting to the sideline. He said when the ball hit his hands and he dropped to the turf, his first thoughts were: “What the hell just happened? First career interception, my son’s first game, a lot of emotions out there.”

2. Lions quarterback Jared Goff stayed patient. The Lions managed just 10 points in the first half, but came away with three second-half touchdowns. “It was huge, especially because we know that defense is very stingy. They have a great group especially against the run. We knew we might have to soften a little with the pass to open up the run game,’’ Decker said. “It’s one of those things, you keep chopping, keep hammering. Those 2-, 3-yard gains in the run game are going to go to 10-yard gains.’’ And that’s exactly what happened. Goff completed 30 of 43 passes for 287 yards and a pair of touchdowns. “Goff made – I mean, fourth quarter, he really showed up there and made some big throws. And we knew we needed to throw the ball to move it today,” Campbell said. “That was – we went out there to Tampa and I’ve said this before, it was like swinging a sledgehammer against a steel door. I mean, we were just over and over and over. And so, we knew we needed to loosen them up before we started to run it and we did that.”

3. When it mattered the most, the defense came up big. Mayfield was sacked four times — Aidan Hutchingon (1), Brian Branch (1), Ifeatu Melifonwu (1.5) and Jalen Reeves-Maybin (.5). While Tampa won the battle in total yards – 408 to 391, the Bucs were just 4-12 on third downs and were held to just 89 rushing yards. They also had eight quarterback hits and two interceptions (Barnes and C.J. Gardner-Johnson).

4. In big games it’s key for the best players to be at their best. It happened for the Lions with wide receivers Amon-Ra St. Brown (8 receptions, 77 yards, 1 touchdown), tight end Sam LaPorta (9 catches, 65 yards) and running back Jahmyr Gibbs (9 carries, 74 yards, 1 touchdown and four catches for 40 yards). They had help which is what makes this Lions team special. WR Josh Reynolds and running back Craig Reynolds each scored a touchdown..

5. The game was not too big for the Lions, a young NFL team. Give Dan Campbell credit for his belief in this team. Look at the rookies – Gibbs, LaPorta and Brian Branch – they play like veterans. They got their first taste of the postseason a week ago in another close game, they digested it all, and came out firing on all cylinders on Sunday with a performance that will be remembered for a long time.

UP NEXT: NFC Championship Game with Lions at 49ers, Sunday, Jan. 28 at 6:30 p.m.