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    • Missteps in Detroit lead to heartbreaking loss
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    Missteps in Detroit lead to heartbreaking loss

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    The Tampa Bay Buccaneers got revenge on Sunday at Ford Field by containing the Detroit Lions’ powerful offense.

    The Lions scored one touchdown on six trips inside the Tampa red zone and lost to the Buccaneers, 20-16, in Week 2 of the NFL season. The Lions defeated the Bucs twice last season, including in the divisional round of the playoffs.

    On Sunday, Tampa quarterback Baker Mayfield outscored Lions quarterback Jared Goff.

    Mayfield completed 12 of 19 passes for 185 yards and one touchdown, scoring the go-ahead touchdown on a set-up 11-yard quarterback draw with 34 seconds left in the third quarter. (Alex Anzalone was injured on the play and was ruled out.)

    Goff was 34 of 55 for 307 yards with two interceptions. He threw short across the sticks on a fourth-and-8 play with just over a minute left when the Bucs forced a turnover on downs, then ended the game with four straight incompletions (the first a spike to kill the clock).

    Lions kicker Jake Bates went 3-for-3 on field goals, but the Lions’ miscue late in the half cost them a field goal attempt, and was ultimately a major factor in the loss. Lions coach Dan Campbell took the blame for the mistake in his pre-second-half interview.

    The Lions move to 1-1 after two home games and head to the Arizona Cardinals next week. The Bucs are 2-0.

    Three more thoughts on the Lions’ loss to Tampa Bay.

    INSIDER: Aidan Hutchinson has a good chance to break the NFL single-season record

    Aidan Hutchinson dominates

    Bucs player Justin Skule is going to have nightmares about Aidan Hutchinson.

    Hutchinson had 4½ sacks and a forced fumble on Sunday, falling one shy of the Lions’ single-game sack record.

    Hutchinson had a sack on each of Tampa’s first three offensive possessions, making the most of his matchup with Tampa’s reserve right tackle after Luke Goedeke entered concussion protocol midweek. He got his first sack off an inside stunt with Alim McNeill, then beat Skule twice with one-on-one moves.

    Hutchinson, who added another 1½ sacks in the second half, has looked great this summer and has four 5½ through two games. That puts him on pace for a 46.8 sack rate for the season. He won’t get that, of course, but if he continues to match up against backup linemen, he could threaten the NFL record of 22½ sacks.

    Jared Goff needs to get better

    Goff will need to play better than he did on Sunday if the Lions are to reach the Super Bowl, which most believe they are capable of.

    Goff’s first choice came on a missed pass interference penalty and wasn’t his fault. His second choice came on a poorly considered throw over the middle when he had pressure in his face deep in Bucs territory. And Goff could have easily thrown two more interceptions and been assessed an intentional grounding penalty.

    The Lions paid Goff a lot of money this offseason — money he earned from his strong play last season in leading the team to the NFC championship game. But with that money comes higher expectations, and the Lions want their quarterback to be more consistent with his passing and handle the ball better.

    This is a quarterback competition and while no one expects Goff to play the Patrick Mahomes role, he can’t play games like Sunday’s and the Lions will get the same results again.

    TREND: The Lions defense is better. The offense is not, and that is a growing concern.

    The Lions suffered a game-management error late in the first half on Sunday when Goff made a short pass to Amon-Ra St. Brown with 11 seconds left and attempted to score as the Lions’ field goal team ran onto the field.

    The Lions had no timeouts left, so the penalty included a 10-second run off that ended the half and sent the Lions to the locker room scoreless, trailing 13-6.

    TREND: Dan Campbell takes blame for Lions blunder against Bucs: ‘Completely ruined my team’

    That run cost the Lions dearly later in the game, when they had to attempt two fourth-down attempts within range of a field goal.

    That was an uncharacteristic mistake from a normally well-coached Lions team, but it’s a big reason the team heads to Arizona next week with a 1-1 record.

    Dave Birkett is the author of the new book “Detroit Lions: An Illustrated Timeline.” Pre-order now from Reedy Press.

    Contact him via [email protected]Follow him on X and Instagram via @davebirkett.

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