The Detroit Lions played with fire in the Week 1 win over the Los Angeles Rams, needing overtime to overcome a shaky game from the offense. In Week 2, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers kept the Detroit offense from firing on all cylinders again, and it cost the Lions a win in Ford Field.
The Buccaneers prevailed, 20-16, when quarterback Jared Goff’s fourth-down pass skimmed across the turf well short of its target on Detroit’s final gasp. It put a sour note on a tremendous day from EDGE Aidan Hutchinson, who bagged 4.5 sacks and almost singlehandedly kept the struggling Lions offense in the game for much of the afternoon.
The offense had all sorts of issues. Jared Goff was not sharp with his accuracy on the whole, completing 36-of-55 passes for 306 yards. Goff threw two interceptions; the first was a terrible missed call against the defense on Detroit’s first offensive play, but the second was a brutal, drive-killing red zone INT in the fourth quarter that a pressured Goff threw into the middle of three Buccaneers with no receivers as options.
Coordinator Ben Johnson’s play calls left much to be desired, abandoning the run in the middle quarters. There were a plethora of empty-calorie yards; the Lions racked up 463 yards and 24 first downs, but Detroit went just 1-of-6 in the red zone in scoring touchdowns.
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The defense outside of Hutchinson had some woes of its own. Rookie cornerback Terrion Arnold was guilty of two costly penalties, a pass interference call of specious validity early and a facemask call later. There were breakdowns in the zone coverage that Mayfield exploited nicely.
Still, the Lions more than doubled the offensive output by Tampa Bay’s offense, which gained just 216 yards and picked up only 14 first downs. The Lions’ defense held strong on third downs, with the Bucs picking up just two out of 10.
The disappointing loss drops the Lions to 1-1, while Tampa Bay rises to 2-0. Detroit heads to Arizona for a late-afternoon road date next Sunday.