Tag: Detroit Lions vs. Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Lions vs. Seahawks: How to watch, listen and stream the Week 4 matchup

Lions vs. Buccaneers: How to watch, listen and stream the Week 2 matchup

The new-look Detroit Lions debut their blue helmets and black jerseys for a Monday Night Football date with the unbeaten Seattle Seahawks.

Detroit Lions (2-1) vs. Seattle Seahawks (3-0)

Monday, Sept. 30th, 8:15 p.m. ET

Ford Field, Detroit

Watch

The game is one of two Monday Night Football broadcasts from ESPN. Joe Buck and Troy Aikman will have the call, with Lisa Salters on the sidelines. The game will not be shown over-the-air on local networks.

Listen

The Lions radio broadcast team of Dan Miller, Lomas Brown and T.J. Lang returns for another year. Their call of the game can be heard on the 45 affiliates of the Detroit Lions Radio Network across Michigan, including the flagship station, 97.1 the Ticket in Detroit.

Outside of Michigan, the game will be broadcast on the syndicated Westwood One Network. Kevin Harlan and Kurt Warner will be on the call. Check your local listings. The Lions call will be broadcast on Sirius XM Radio channel 225, and the game will be the national game on channel 88.

Stream

ESPN will stream the game on its own app. Payment may be required.

FUBO Sports will stream the game as well. They’re offering a free trial available for this game.

The NFL+ app will also stream the game for out-of-market fans on mobile devices.

We occasionally recommend interesting products and services. If you make a purchase by clicking one of the links, we may earn an affiliate fee. USA TODAY Network newsrooms operate independently, and this doesn’t influence our coverage.

 

Breaking down the Lions red zone offensive woes vs. the Buccaneers

Breaking down the Lions red zone offensive woes vs. the Buccaneers, which was a broken effort by a lot of different Lions

By now, we all know about the Detroit Lions odd struggles on offense. These struggles aren’t about getting downfield and gaining yards or getting their playmakers involved.

Through two games, Amon-Ra St. Brown has 25 targets (2nd-most in the NFL) and Jameson Williams has 20 targets (5th most in the NFL). We could say that the Lions are force-feeding the ball to those two receivers and that Jared Goff isn’t doing a good job spreading the football around.

While I believe that to be true, the biggest problem with the Lions offense starts with their efficiency in the red zone. Nobody in the NFL has thrown the football more in the red zone than Jared Goff and the Detroit Lions.

Through two games, Goff has gone 11-for-18 inside the 20-yard line this season. The number of completions (11) and attempts (18) are most in the NFL. Unfortunately, Goff doesn’t have anything to show for it, as he hasn’t thrown a touchdown pass inside the red zone yet this season.

 

Fortunately, the Lions have found success on the ground, with David Montgomery and Jahmyr Gibbs having 13 carries for 40 yards and 3 touchdowns.

Maintaining that trust in the ground game doesn’t appear to be developed yet this season. Hopefully, that begins to change for Detroit. On Sunday against the Buccaneers, the Lions went 1-for-7 in the red zone. With the amount of talent they have on the offense, that can’t happen.

Certainly, the players have to execute the plays that are designed and being called but it is a two way street. Some of the red-zone woes fall on Ben Johnson and the plays he’s calling for the offense.

Players have to execute and the play-calling needs improvement as the Lions get closer to the end-zone. With the track record of this coaching staff and the talent they have on offense, they should be fine. They should start to bounce back as we continue to move along. If it doesn’t, it could all stem from their problematic red zone woes.

Lions snap count notes: Big rep debuts for Tim Patrick and DJ Reader

Lions snap count notes vs. Buccaneers in Week 2: Big rep debuts for Tim Patrick and DJ Reader

The day after a game is always a good time to check back in on who played and for how long for the Detroit Lions. Week 2 against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers snap counts are now out.

Before even getting to the player participation, the stark discrepancy in the number of offensive snaps jumps off the sheet. Detroit ran 85 offensive plays, while Tampa Bay ran just 48. The Lions ran 37 more plays than the Bucs.

That crazy split puts a cap on some of the Detroit defensive participation; there just weren’t nearly as many opportunities as in a normal game. Three players, all in the secondary, played every defensive snap:

Kerby Joseph
Brian Branch
Carlton Davis

Slot CB Amk Robertson played 18 snaps, including four filling in for starting outside CB Terrion Arnold when Arnold dealt with a finger injury.

Linebacker Alex Anzalone played all 40 available snaps before departing with a concussion. That left Derrick Barnes playing the most reps at LB, with 45. Jack Campbell played 35, followed by Malcolm Rodriguez with 19. Jalen Reeves-Maybin did sneak onto the field for two.

James Houston played three snaps in his return to the lineup at EDGE. With Marcus Davenport out, Levi Onwuzurike took over most of his snaps. Onwuzurike was on the field for 36 of the 48 snaps. Aidan Hutchinson played his customary 90 percent of snaps, playing 43. DJ Reader saw action on 25 in his Lions debut.

On offense, the entire starting offensive line and QB Jared Goff were iron men and never left the field.

At RB, Jahmyr Gibbs out-repped David Montgomery 53 to 30. Sione Vaki played four reps, while Craig Reynolds played three out of 85 snaps.

Tim Patrick wound up getting more snaps at wide receiver than Kalif Raymond. Patrick, called up from the practice squad, played 33 to Raymond’s 31. Tom Kennedy played five, though Kennedy was Detroit’s primary kick returner in this game.

The Lions had three reserve offensive linemen who played one snap apiece: Dan Skipper, Kayode Awosika and Michael Niese. Those came on the fake punt attempt, which counts as an offensive rep.

The Lions brutal Week 2 red zone offense summed up in one post

The Lions brutal Week 2 red zone offense was nicely summed up in one post by a Buccaneers insider

The Detroit Lions offense filled up the stat sheet on Sunday, but Ben Johnson’s unit failed to find success at converting opportunity and yardage production into points. The Lions lost to the Buccaneers, 20-16, despite gaining more than double the yards that Tampa Bay posted against Detroit’s own defense.

The Lions woes were especially pronounced in the fourth quarter. Drive after drive crashed and burned in the red zone, where the Lions scored one touchdown in seven trips in the game. They couldn’t even get field goals in the fourth quarter despite the football equivalent of being born on third base with the 3-4-5 sluggers taking the plate.

This post on X (formely Twitter) by Bucs insider Greg Auman says it all:

https://twitter.com/gregauman/status/1835481935012843931?t=qnh6CHKQ2IBzfZEJoQYhSA&s=19

From a Buccaneers perspective, it is indeed a great sign for their young defense stepping up and making plays. But from the Lions side of the coin, it’s an apt summation of how poorly the offense functioned when it really mattered.

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Aidan Hutchinson offers smart perspective on the Lions’ Week 2 loss

Aidan Hutchinson offers smart perspective on the Lions’ Week 2 loss, which smells a lot like Detroit’s bad Week 2 last year

The Detroit Lions dropped a tough one at home to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Sunday. The Lions lost 20-16 despite the best efforts of Aidan Hutchinson.

The third-year defensive end racked up 4.5 sacks in the loss, dominating with his pass rush. Hutchinson had an amazing game, as did the Lions defense for the most part. Detroit held Tampa Bay to 14 first downs and 216 total yards.

It’s a frustrating outcome for the Lions, no doubt. But it’s not a death blow for the team’s lofty hopes for 2024. Hutchinson offered up some pretty sage perspective about it after the game.

“Yeah, I mean, it sucks, but I was just talking to some guys. I think this is going to be good for us,” Hutchinson said in his postgame presser. “We lost last year (in Week 2) too. I remember we lost to Seattle and everybody thought we sucked again. I think we’re going to keep this one in perspective and if we’re going to struggle a little bit as a team, I think I’d rather struggle early.”

Indeed, the Lions did lose in Week 2 last year to the Seahawks in Ford Field, a game that followed up Detroit’s road win over the reigning champion Chiefs in Kansas City in Week 1. Jared Goff threw a pick-six in that game, while David Montgomery and Amon-Ra St. Brown each gave away fumbles in a 37-31 overtime loss to Seattle.

Last season, Hutchinson and the Lions followed that 1-1 start with four straight wins, including a 20-9 suffocation of Atlanta in Week 3. They’ve been here before, as Hutchinson well knows, and they understand how to move forward from a tough loss.

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Lions offense fizzles in Week 2 loss to the Buccaneers

The Lions offense, notably Jared Goff and Ben Johnson, fizzles in Week 2 loss to the Buccaneers

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.

Dan Campbell ‘totally screwed my team’ in costly end-of-half blunder

Lions head coach Dan Campbell ‘totally screwed my team’ in costly end-of-half blunder against the Buccaneers

The Detroit Lions blew an opportunity to put some much-needed points on the board at the end of the first half. Trailing Tampa Bay 13-6 but in the red zone with a chance to score, a horribly botched sequence by the Lions offense kept Detroit from getting points.

The sequence concluded with confusion between clocking the ball (QB Jared Goff spiking it to stop the block) or the field goal unit rushing onto the field with no timeouts. Both happened, and the ensuing penalty and 10-second runoff ended the half.

Lions head coach Dan Campbell took full responsibility for the blunderous possession as the team came back onto the field for the second half.

“Listen, 100 percent on the head coach,” Campbell told FOX sideline reporter Luara Okmin. “Totally screwed my team. That is my — we’re going for the clock, clock it. It’s not a hurricane. I made a decision I shouldn’t have made and our team is going to have to overcome it.”

Lions inactives for Week 2 vs. Buccaneers

The Detroit Lions inactive players for Week 2 vs. the Tampa Bay Buccaneers

The Detroit Lions have released their inactive player list for the Week 2 visit from the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

With two players ruled out due to injuries and another doubtful, this week’s inactive list wasn’t too surprising. Safety Ifeatu Melifonwu and wide receiver Isaiah Williams were ruled out during the final injury status update. EDGE Marcus Davenport was listed as doubtful on that report, and no player listed as doubtful under Dan Campbell has ever been active for a game in Detroit.

Wide receiver Jameson Williams was listed as questionable but he will play, as reported earlier this weekend.

The healthy scratches include some rookie draft picks:
CB Ennis Rakestraw

OL Giovanni Manu

OL Colby Sorsdal

LB Trevor Nowaske

Rakestraw had a special teams gaffe in Week 1 that might have led to his sitting. Sorsdal, Manu and Nowaske were all inactive in Week 1.

https://twitter.com/Lions/status/1835340733798076818

Lions vs. Buccaneers: Last-minute thoughts and final score prediction

Lions vs. Buccaneers: Last-minute thoughts and final score prediction for the Week 2 matchup in Ford Field

It’s Week 2 of the NFL season, yet it still feels very much like summer around the upper Midwest. As I sit with my Sunday morning coffee just before 7 a.m., it’s already 62 degrees on the way to near 90.

The unseasonably hot weather reminds many folks around Michigan of Florida. That’s a fitting sentiment as the Detroit Lions welcome the Tampa Bay Buccaneers to Ford Field later this afternoon. The fans packing the rafters in the home of the Lions will not give the visitors from Florida a warm welcome as the two teams renew a rekindling rivalry.

Detroit beat the Bucs in the NFC Divisional Round, 31-23. Both teams are gunning to go 2-0 and maintain their supremacy in their respective NFC divisions. It’s a big game for the early season.

Why I think the Lions will win

It’s normally considered trite to lead with injuries to the opponent, but the loss of safety Antoine Winfield Jr. in the middle of the Buccaneers defense cannot be overstated. He’s their best player and Winfield plays a position that is hypercritical to stopping Jared Goff, Amon-Ra St. Brown and Sam LaPorta from exploiting the middle of the field in the passing game.

Pair that with injuries at outside cornerback, where the Bucs will be quite shorthanded even if Zyon McCollum is cleared from his brain injury to play. Tampa’s secondary might remind some Lions fans of Detroit’s own inadequate patchwork in the early Dan Campbell years. Tyrek Funderburk and Tavierre Thomas each playing significant roles against a Lions passing attack that is looking to bounce back from a subpar overall Week 1 is a recipe for Goff and St. Brown to get right quickly.

I also like the scheduling quirk. After playing the Rams last week, the Lions draw a Bucs team with new offensive coordinator Liam Coen. He’s a progeny of the Sean McVay/Rams offensive system. A familiar system, one the Lions played against just last week.

Tampa Bay is very talented, no doubt about it. But the basic scheme and style of play the Bucs bring isn’t much different from what the Lions played in Week 1. No radical changes of approach, no real divergent attack. Both offenses are based on having two very skilled primary outside wide receivers, a quarterback who makes quick, good decisions, and a run game that is meant to be a good complementary weapon, not a feature. Game prep for Aaron Glenn and the Lions defense was fairly easy this week.

Contrast that with Tampa Bay. Last week the Bucs played Washington, a team led by rookie QB Jayden Daniels operating Kliff Kingsbury’s offense. Daniels was a bigger threat with his legs, taking off 16 times out of the pocket and almost topping 100 yards on the ground. He only threw for 184. Washington’s leading receiver amongst wide receivers was rookie Luke McCaffrey, who caught three passes for 18 yards.

Now they’ve got to play Goff, St. Brown, LaPorta, Week 1 star Jameson Williams and an offensive line that shines in pass protection. That’s not even bringing the lethal power ground game of David Montgomery and Jahmyr Gibbs into the equation. Tampa Bay is a very well-coached defense between head coach Todd Bowles and co-DCs in Kacy Rogers and Larry Foote, but having to uproot everything they did in Week 1 to prep for Week 2, and doing it without several key pieces, yeah–that’s a very difficult assignment.

What worries me about the Bucs

Let’s go back to the Bucs offense. Baker Mayfield leads the NFL in touchdown passes, and he looked very sharp last Sunday. Mike Evans and Chris Godwin are as good of a 1-2 wideout tandem as the Lions will see all year, and that includes Kupp and Nacua. It’s great that Lions CB Carlton Davis has years of experience practicing against those guys, but there’s only so much that can help.

The Lions pass rush has to impact Mayfield. He’s more mobile than Matthew Stafford last week, but he’s also prone to lapses of judgment when he’s pressured. Losing Marcus Davenport is a rough break for the Lions, and someone else must step up to help Aidan Hutchinson, who draws perhaps his toughest assignment of the year in Tristan Wirfs. Mayfield, with those receivers, with a more promising run game that the Bucs showed in Week 1, that’s an offense that can win this game.

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The middle-of-the-field defense in Tampa Bay is designed to stuff the run. Nose Vita Vea is one of the best at it, and LB Lavonte David is still great. Even without Winfield, David and his fellow LBs are swift and savvy in the middle of the field and can complicate the intermediate passing game like the Rams did so effectively against the Lions in Week 1.

Final thought and score prediction

During the week, I predicted the Lions to win 31-25. I still like that basic margin of victory, but I do see how the score could wind up being a little lower–even with the defensive injuries on both teams.

Lions 27, Buccaneers 21

Lions vs. Buccaneers: How to watch, listen and stream the Week 2 matchup

Lions vs. Buccaneers: How to watch, listen and stream the Week 2 matchup

A rematch of the NFC Divisional Round matchup returns to Ford Field when the Detroit Lions host the visiting Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Both teams are looking to improve to 2-0 on the young season.

Detroit Lions (1-0) vs. Tampa Bay Buccaneers (1-0)

Sunday, September 15, 1 p.m. ET

Ford Field, Detroit

Watch

This week’s game will be broadcast as part of FOX Sports early-afternoon package. It is available in the markets in orange in the map below (courtesy 506 Sports). The local FOX affiliates will air the game in those markets. Kevin Kugler and Daryl Johnston will have the broadcast call.

Listen

The Lions radio broadcast team of Dan Miller, Lomas Brown and T.J. Lang returns for another year. Their call of the game can be heard on the 45 affiliates of the Detroit Lions Radio Network across Michigan, including the flagship station, 97.1 the Ticket in Detroit.

Outside of Michigan, the game will be broadcast on the syndicated Westwood One Network. Check your local listings. The Lions call will be broadcast on Sirius XM Radio channel 225, and the game will be the national game on channel 88.

Stream

The FOX broadcast of the game is available to stream on several streaming platforms.

FUBO Sports will stream the game as well. They’re offering a free trial available for this game.

The NFL+ app will also stream the game for out-of-market fans on mobile devices.

We occasionally recommend interesting products and services. If you make a purchase by clicking one of the links, we may earn an affiliate fee. USA TODAY Network newsrooms operate independently, and this doesn’t influence our coverage.

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