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Detroit Lions shocked by Bucs loss, but have been in this position before

Vaseline September 16, 2024

Detroit —The Detroit Lions have officially tasted their own blood.

After an offseason full of optimism and a feel-good overtime win over the Los Angeles Rams in Week 1, the Lions came up short against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Sunday. It was a painful game where the defense gave the offense chance after chance, with the latter largely failing to capitalize.

The Lions outscored the Bucs 463-216, had nearly double the first downs of their opponents and had a 60% success rate on fourth downs. So much was going right, but it was overshadowed by a terrible output in the red zone, quarterback Jared Goff’s two interceptions and a coaching mishap that cost the team a chance at at least three points.

“I think so,” offensive tackle Penei Sewell said when asked if this is a wake-up call for Detroit. “Moments like this, you can only learn from them. You can’t go any lower than this. I just hope the guys have that great mindset when they come back every week.”

“It’s only the second game. We can do better.”

The Lions have been in this situation before, losing in Week 2 after coming off a seemingly big win in Week 1. It happened last season, when Detroit opened the campaign with a win over the Kansas City Chiefs that put the league on edge.

Ten days later, a home loss to the Seattle Seahawks followed. But Detroit turned things around in 2023, making a run to the NFC Championship Game. Superstar pass rusher Aidan Hutchinson hopes a similar story can be written in 2024.

“I just talked to some guys, I think this is going to be really good for us,” said Hutchinson, who had a career-best 4.5 sacks on Sunday. “We lost early last year, too. I remember losing to Seattle and everyone thought we were bad again. I think we have to keep it in perspective. If we’re going to struggle a little bit as a team, I’d rather struggle sooner than later.”

The Lions visited the red zone seven times against the Bucs. Only once did it result in a touchdown. Kicker Jake Bates hit three field goals from close range, and the other three times saw the Lions leave the field scoreless.

One of those drives ended with a too-many-men penalty, which caused the first-half clock to expire. Instead of Bates attempting a kick from what should have been 26 yards out, the Lions went into halftime disappointed.

“I think games like this really help you focus on the details,” offensive tackle Taylor Decker said. “Because like I said, it felt like we were moving the ball. But when it came down to the details of ‘Let’s get the ball in the end zone,’ it just didn’t happen. We had multiple chances to win there at the end of the game, and we just didn’t do enough.

“I think it’s really about the details of the game.”

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