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Lions waste chances, lose to Tampa Bay, 20-16

Vaseline September 16, 2024

Detroit — The Detroit Lions dominated every phase of their home game at Ford Field against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Sunday.

Except in the red zone and — in turn — the scoreboard.

Unable to finish drives, they ultimately failed to finish the game. The Lions were 1-of-7 from red zone opportunities, and the Buccaneers got revenge for last year’s Divisional Round playoff game by beating Tampa 20-16 to tie the Lions at 1-1.

Detroit had 463 yards of offense compared to Tampa’s 216; Detroit was 7 of 17 on third down compared to Tampa’s 2 of 10. And the Lions had five sacks (4.5 by Aidan Hutchinson) to Tampa’s zero, making for a frustrating day for the Buccaneers’ offense.

But because the Lions failed to perform well at the right time, their efforts were futile.

“That’s the difference in the game at the end of the day,” Lions quarterback Jared Goff said. “(If) we get out there, we score touchdowns, and (then) we probably win the game — and unfortunately we didn’t. You take your hat off to them. They had a good, stingy red-zone defense and we didn’t make enough plays there.”

Lions head coach Dan Campbell came to the podium fighting back tears over a disastrous late-half field-goal operation that cost the Lions three points and forced them to go to the end zone at the end of the game, which they simply couldn’t do. After Brian Branch intercepted a pass from Baker Mayfield, Detroit’s offense went the other way and reached the red zone as the clock ticked down.

As the offense rallied to snap the ball with eight seconds left in the second quarter, something had clearly gone wrong with the communication along the sideline; the field-goal unit ran away when the ball was snapped, earning the Lions a 12-man penalty and forcing a 10-second runoff that ended the half.

“I asked for improvement from last week (from the players). That was the story. And we improved. We improved, and their coach cost them. Their head coach cost them this one,” Campbell said. “Critical error, end of half, and 100 percent at my expense.”

▶ SCORECARD: Buccaneers 20, Lions 16

Goff had another inconsistent performance, throwing the ball 55 times, completing 34 (61.8%) for 307 yards, no touchdowns and two interceptions that proved costly.

“(The Buccaneers’ defense was) just playing well. I don’t know if they did anything to take away too much. We moved the ball pretty well, they got really stingy in the red zone,” Goff said. “They undercut routes at times, but at the same time, we had guys open that were winning routes.”

Goff added: “Unfortunately they were better than us today.”

The Lions had a chance to make it three wins over Tampa in a span of 336 days. Detroit defeated the Buccaneers 20-6 in a Week 6 game last season before beating them again at Ford Field in the playoffs.

Detroit got the ball back with 5:12 left in Sunday’s game, but couldn’t capitalize on a potential go-ahead drive as Lions running back Jahmyr Gibbs was stopped short of the sticks on fourth-and-8 with 53 seconds left in the game. With three more points on the board, Detroit could have settled for a field goal after Gibbs got into the red zone on a 23-yard, fourth-down run with 1:17 left. Unfortunately, the Lions were forced to go all the way, and on this day, the Buccaneers just weren’t having it.

The Lions defense quickly forced a three-and-out to get the ball back with 33 seconds left on the positive side of the field after a solid punt return by Kalif Raymond. It was too steep a hill to climb, however, as Goff’s throw from the 27-yard line to end the game was incomplete.

Instead of taking shots at the end zone on their final four plays of regulation, the Lions tried to cut down on yardage to give themselves a better chance of completing a pass to the end zone, Goff said. But the chance never came. Goff’s final pass went to wide receiver Tom Kennedy, but the ball was miserably underthrown and fell to the turf without Kennedy having a chance to make a play.

“You want to put yourself in a situation where your percentages are going up. We were trying to get inside that (20-yard line), inside that 15, where your percentages are going up to throw it in the end zone,” Goff said. “When you throw from outside those areas in the end zone, it’s usually a pretty low percentage. That last play there, we had something on it. It was a lousy throw and we just couldn’t do it.”

Lions receiver Amon-Ra St. Brown had a resilient performance with 11 catches for 119 yards and Gibbs had 84 rushing yards on 13 carries, but it wasn’t enough to prevent the loss. St. Brown appeared to be in some pain on the final possession and was not on the field for Detroit’s final play of the game. His injury is not currently known, but Campbell said he doesn’t expect it to be anything long-term.

Sophomore tight end Sam LaPorta had the least productive game of his young NFL career, catching just two passes for 13 yards.

Rookie cornerback Terrion Arnold was punished for another costly defensive pass interference on the opening drive, giving the Buccaneers first-and-goal at the Detroit 5-yard line. But after a short run by Rachaad White, the Lions defense came through with a Brian Branch pass breakup in the end zone and a strip sack by Hutchinson that forced a 30-yard field goal and a 3-0 Buccaneers lead just 3:29 into the game.

The Lions had a turnover on the first offensive play from scrimmage. Jameson Williams, who had five catches for 79 yards, was pushed off the top of his route by Christian Izien, and the ball sailed through the window and into the arms of Buccaneers cornerback Zyon McCollum.

“I saw pass interference from the defense, but listen, I’ve had a million plays that should have been called pass interference that weren’t, and this is one of them,” Goff said.

Hutchinson and Levi Onwuzurike combined for another sack that forced the Buccaneers to third-and-very-long on the ensuing Buccaneers possession, and held Tampa to a 55-yard field goal by Chase McLaughlin to make it 6-0 with 9:00 left in the first quarter. With Tampa without starting tackle Luke Goedeke, Hutchinson made light work of reserve Buccaneers right tackle Justin Skule.

Goff went right back to Williams on the first play of the ensuing drive, connecting on a deep ball that went 50 yards. After the Buccaneers hit Goff late, leading to a roughing-the-passer penalty, the Lions’ drive stalled inside the 10, leading to a 22-yard field goal by Jake Bates to make it a 6-3 Buccaneers lead with 7:13 left in the first quarter.

To end the Buccaneers’ ensuing drive, Hutchinson tied his all-time sack total (three) in the first 9:23 minutes by taking down Bucs quarterback Baker Mayfield to force a punt.

Campbell said it wasn’t until later in the game that he felt the Buccaneers’ protection helped Skule.

“The game got later, they wouldn’t allow that anymore, and they were chipping and pushing, so he’s got to try to beat double teams, but he’s a powerhouse now,” Campbell said. “He’s a powerhouse.”

Godwin put the Buccaneers back ahead with a three-catch, 69-yard drive that ended with a 41-yard touchdown to give Tampa a 13-6 lead with 9:08 left in the second quarter.

The Lions extended their next drive with a fourth-down fake that saw Jack Fox throw a completion to rookie Sione Vaki. Shortly after, the Lions went for it on fourth-and-2 from their own 45 and picked it up again, this time with a 3-yard run by David Montgomery. But the Lions again couldn’t move the chains and were forced to punt from midfield.

Detroit got the ball early in the second half and quickly moved it to the other end of the field, but was again thwarted in the red zone and was limited to a 32-yard field goal by Bates, cutting the Buccaneers’ lead to 13-9.

Hutchinson added his fourth sack of the game, tying a career high in both college and pro play, to help the Lions get the ball right back. Detroit put together its best drive of the game, going down the field in eight plays to take a 16-13 lead, its first of the game, with 3:26 left in the third quarter.

The Buccaneers, however, immediately marched the other way, getting their ensuing drive underway with a 15-yard facemask penalty on Arnold. After Mayfield gave Tampa first-and-10 at the Detroit 11-yard line with a crucial third-down scramble, the Buccaneers called his number again and Mayfield took a designed run up the gut — with no one around — for an 11-yard rushing touchdown to make it 20-16 with 34 seconds left in the third quarter.

As the Buccaneers tried to extend their lead early in the fourth quarter, Hutchinson got Mayfield again on third down, his fifth sack of the game, to give Detroit the ball back and a chance for the go-ahead score. But the Lions were stuck in the red zone for the fifth time when a holding penalty on Frank Ragnow was followed by a very bad throw by Goff that was intercepted by Izien, his second pick of the game, at 7:34 in the fourth quarter.

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