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Detroit Lions’ defense comes up huge in 24-9 win over Tampa Bay Bucs

DETROIT — “Next man up” is not an empty phrase for Lions coach Dan Campbell. He’s serious and his defense proved him right in a 24-9 win over Tampa Bay on Monday night at Ford Field.

Missing key starters in the secondary, Detroit’s defense, including the pieced-together secondary, stifled Bucs’ quarterback Baker Mayfield. The Bucs (5-2) averaged 27.5 points per game and the Lions held them to just nine.

“I knew we were going to challenge more, do more than what we did last week. I did feel good about that,’’ Campbell said. “That’s a good quarterback over there, we knew (WR Mike) Evans was coming back.’’

The coach had confidence in his guys but didn’t think they could hold the Bucs’e offensive output so well.

Tampa Bay had no answer for running back Jahmyr Gibbs who had 218 scrimmage yards and a pair of rushing touchdowns.

The Lions’ resiliency showed again. Coming off a disappointing loss at Kansas City, Detroit was not going to lose two in a row. And they didn’t. The Lions (5-2) haven’t lost back-to-back games in three years.

“Listen, we’ve got a special group of coaches and players, they’re competitive, they want to win, they’re able to really focus on what needs to be fixed,’’ Campbell said. “What cost us the loss the week before and simply keep in that compartment. Don’t make more of it then needs be, don’t lose confidence, just fix it.’’

And they did.

Five of the reasons the Lions won:

ONE: Jahmyr Gibbs made the most of every touch and he had plenty. Gibbs scored two rushing touchdowns, carried 17 times for 136 yards and caught three passes for 82 yards. “You felt like this has been building. As he gets in better shape, and starts getting his feet under him, starts getting the feel of it, starts breaking some tackles,’’ Campbell said. “Every week it’s gotten closer and closer, tonight was the night he busted one out of there, there will be no looking back.’’Gibbs became the 10th player in NFL history to produce a game with at least 135 rushing yards, 80 receiving yards and two rushing TDs. The last player to do so was Chris Johnson in 2009. Gibbs reached those totals with 4:39 left in the third quarter. Let that soak in. And he is the 8th NFL player since at least 1960 to produce 100-plus rushing yards, a rushing TD and 50-plus receiving yards in the first half of a game.

TWO: Alim McNeill is back. Man, is he back. The defensive tackle, who had not played for 10 months after knee surgery, makes everyone around him better and it was evident from the get-go. He tipped a Baker Mayfield pass at the line of scrimmage on a key third-and-3 play early in the second quarter, forcing a punt. “You could feel his presence early,’’ said Campbell, noting that he’s not yet in great football shape.

THREE: The Lions’ secondary was missing most of its starters but the others stepped up big time. It was almost like they got tired of hearing about the “depleted” secondary and decided to make a statement. “That’s what’s expected here,’’ Campbell said. “I’ve said before you get in there you don’t have to be perfect, you challenge and you compete and we will help you, the guys around will help you and we’ll play with three units. I love the fact that the game didn’t feel too big for some of those guys.’’ Rock Ya-Sin started at corner and had two pass defenses and four tackles. CB Arthur Maulet intercepted Mayfield late in the second on a play that was called on a review. It was Maulet’s second appearance in a game for the Lions. Veteran Amik Robertson’s stellar play with a forced fumble and pass defended was no surprise. CB NIck Whiteside had three passes defended including two on back-to-back pass attempts in the end zone.

FOUR: It was not Jared Goff’s best game but he came through when needed and he had plenty of help from Gibbs and the Lions defense. “Offensively there’s certainly things we know can be done better and we’ll need to do better, but at the end of the day when we needed points we found points,’’ Campbell said. Still, Goff completed 20 of 29 passes for 241 yards, one touchdown (to Amon-Ra St. Brown) and one interception.

FIVE: Tampa Bay’s defense was not stout enough. They came in with the NFL’s fifth best rushing defense allowing just 88.2 rushing yards per game. The Lions rushed for nearly double that – 164. They could not stop Detroit’s run. In fact, they just couldn’t put up much of a fight.

UP NEXT: It’s the Lions bye week. Next game on Sunday, Nov, 2 at Ford Field against the Minnesota Vikings.

Five things to watch as the Lions face the Bucs; plus injury updates, prediction

Under coach Dan Campbell the Lions have piled up amazing statistics on their way to two straight NFC North titles.

One stat seems to stand out. The Lions have not lost back-to-back games since October 2022 when they fell to Miami and Dallas.

That streak gets tested on Monday night when the Lions (4-2) host the Tampa Bay Bucs (5-1). Detroit is coming off a 30-17 loss at Kansas City. The bounce-back stat is on the line. If it was easy to accomplish this season after season, more teams would do it.

“It’s our players, we have a good group of guys that are competitive, they’re a resilient group, they know how to overcome adversity,’’ Campbell said. “They don’t like losing. And they go back to work to fix the things that need to be fixed. We have a couple things to clean up and we’re going to clean them up this week. So it’s our players man, coaches do a helluva job too.’’

The Lions lost just two regular season games in 2024 and one of them was to the Bucs in Week 2. They bounced back after that with 11 straight wins.

“We’ve gotten each other, I don’t know, four or five times now in the last handful of years. And it feels like we’ve given them a good punch and they’ve given us a good punch. We’ve kind of gone back and forth in that way,’’ quarterback Jared Goff said. “And I think a lot of who they are is a lot of who we want to be too. And again, I’d hope they’d say the same thing about the respect they have for us, the respect we have for their team, how hard they play, how well they’re coached, the whole thing. It’s great. It’s a good, fun I guess rivalry, if you want to call it that and I think they’re a good team.”

Five things to watch:

ONE: Bucs quarterback Baker Mayfield is a challenge even with a fully healthy secondary which the Lions do not have. “Baker makes that offense go, and it’s been that way no matter who the play-caller has been over the last couple season. … He’s a tough guy. He’s a tough guy to deal with because when it seems like there’s nothing there, he finds a way to pull his team through,’’ Lions defensive coordinator Kelvin Sheppard said. “So, he makes that thing go. The coordinators are smart because they don’t try to change much, they understand what works for him and they carried over. There’s some nuances that changed motion-wise, schematically, but for the most part it’s Baker’s show.” In the Bucs 20-16 win over the Lions last year Mayfield scored on passing and running touchdowns. The Lions secondary will be without Terrion Arnold, Brian Branch, Kerby Joseph and Avonte Maddox.

TWO: It’s an understatement to say DL Alim McNeill has been missed since he tore up his knee late last season. He will be back in action on Monday. “I expect Alim to come in and show what he’s shown the last two weeks on the practice field. Like I said, it’s like he didn’t miss a beat,’’ Sheppard said. “Now, obviously you’re not taking hard-core doubles and true pounding and – you know that live in-game you may find yourself in kind of an eight-play sequence there that you can’t simulate on the field. So, it’s all that stuff – getting his legs back up under him. But I mean I expect this player to play at a high level and more importantly help our defense in a tremendous way.”

THREE: The Lions offensive line is coming together despite playing without LT Taylor Decker for two games. Decker could possibly return against the Bucs which would be huge since they’ll be facing nose tackle Vita Vea (6-foot-4, 347 pounds) who has 2.5 sacks to start the season. “The size is one thing but (Vea’s) quickness to get off the ball. He’s got explosiveness and he’s got really good feet. When you’re (facing) a man that big and can move like he moves you have to do everything right and you’ve got to play with leverage,’’ Campbell said. “You have to get off of your life. We have double teams, we have to fit the double teams together. You’re off just a little bit he’ll spit you, he’ll crease you, he’ll get an edge. He’ll do that in the pass game too. He’ll swim sometimes and so if you’re not locked in and you’re not perfect fundamentally he’ll get on you. We have to be locked in on every stinking play and we have to play together.’

FOUR: All the talk about the change in offensive coordinators came to an end quickly. One main reason is the play of Jared Goff who leads the NFL in passing TDs (14) and passing percentage (75.9). “I mean, he’s the CEO of this place. So, when you’ve got a veteran guy like that, we’re always talking, ‘Hey I want this, I want that. I’d like to have this.’ It’s awesome. When you have that dialogue with the quarterback, it just makes it so much easier for me and everybody,’’ offensive coordinator John Morton said. “Everybody sees how much confidence he has to do things, and it’s paid off for us. So yeah, it’s big time.” Goff said he’s always tried to keep the ball in his teammates’ hands and avoid sacks. “Those two things, completion percentage and low sack numbers, is something I work on and something we’ve done a good job with up to this point,’’ said Goff who has been sacked nine times this season with four of those in the opening loss.

FIVE: Tampa Bay’s coach Todd Bowles is known for switching things up which creates headaches for guys like Morton. “Listen, we have to prepare for everything. Protection-wise, that’s the biggest thing. You give them all the looks that you can give, especially the things that they’re doing this year,’’ Morton said. “You’ve already played them three times, you go back there, and you look at those games. You look at games of other teams that are similar to us, similar to the quarterback. … But the biggest thing is, we try to make sure (Goff is) protected. Because when he’s protected, he’s deadly.’’

LIONS INJURIES: OUT: CB Terrion Arnold (shoulder), Kerby Joseph (knee), DB Avonte Maddox (hamstring) and RB Sione Vaki (groin). QUESTIONABLE: LT Taylor Decker (shoulder), DT D.J. Reader (back) and DT Alim McNeill (knee).

SUSPENDED: DB Brian Branch

BUCS INJURIES: OUT: WR Chris Godwin Jr. (fibula), G Luke Haggard (shoulder), RB Bucky Irving (foot/shoulder); QUESTIONABLE: WR Mike Evans (hamstring), WR Emeka Egbuka (hamstring), LB Lavonte David (knee/rib), QB Teddy Bridgewater (illness).

PREDICTION: Lions 28, Bucs 27

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