Tag: Detroit Lions vs. Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Detroit Lions Film Review: Alex Anzalone continues to lead and make plays on defense

Anzalone had a great game against the Buccaneers and Russell Brown breaks down how he did it

This past off-season, there were a lot of Detroit Lions fans that were upset with the Lions giving linebacker Alex Anzalone a three-year contract worth $18.75 million dollars. Many fans had felt like the Lions could have moved on from the veteran linebacker out of Florida by drafting a linebacker or because there was an expectation for last season sensation Malcolm Rodriguez to take a huge step forward.

Fortunately, the Lions stayed true to what they believe in and continue to add and/or keep players that fit the culture they’ve built. Like it or not, Alex Anzalone is one of those players.

Since his arrival to Detroit, Anzalone has registered more tackles than anybody on the roster with 203 total tackles during his first two years with the team. So far this season, he’s registered 44 tackles with one sack and four pass deflections. Currently, he’s on pace for 100+ tackles this season and he should surpass that easily. Meanwhile, it’s starting to look like Anzalone is going to have a career year this season for the Lions. Let’s jump into the film room to see how Anzalone continues to lead and make play after play for the Lions defense!

Starting with one of the first defensive plays of the game, it’s a play that sets the tone. It’s a play that indicates that it’s going to be tough sledding when trying to run against this Detroit Lions defense. Much of that is credited to how Alex Anzalone attacks blockers and gets downhill.

Looking at the play above, the Buccaneers come out in a pistol formation with their 12 personnel (one running back and two tight ends). Once the ball is snapped, the offensive line all reach block to the left. During the play, the right guard and right tackle combo block on the defensive tackle that is aligned as a 3-technique.

In that process, this creates an opening in the A-gap between the center and right guard. This creates a slight opening for Anzalone, who reads the hand-off perfectly and he attacks downhill immediately.

Once the quarterback hands the ball off, Anzalone gets square to the running back and starts to throttle down to form tackle. Sure, he stumbles some and reaches rather than shooting his hands, but it’s enough to slow the running back down. Lastly, it forces the running back to change direction. This is a great run fill by the seven-year veteran.

In coverage against the Buccaneers, Anzalone had a season-high two pass deflections. On the play above, we look at one of those pass deflections. The Bucs come out in an empty set with three receivers to the right of the formation. To defend this, the Lions come out in a 4-3 but they run Cover 2 Man out of this defense.

Aligned in the slot (bottom of the screen) is Anzalone. As the receiver pushes vertically up the field, Anzalone stays square to the receiver and is prepared to break inside or outside with the receiver. One thing that Anzalone isn’t concerned with is if there’s a vertical route because he’s got a safety over the top.

Once the receiver throttles down and breaks towards the middle of the field with an in-breaking route, Anzalone jumps into the hip pocket of the receiver to trail him. In the process, the pass is delivered and rather than trying to jump the route, Anzalone swats the arms of the defender and breaks up the pass.

Next, I want to focus on one of the many run stops that were made by Anzalone on Sunday against the Buccaneers. According to Pro Football Focus (PFF), he had a 38.5% run stop rate. That was highest of any defender in the NFL this past week.

Looking at the play above, the Bucs come out in their 11 personnel (one running back and one tight end). For the Lions, they come out in their nickel defense. Aligned as double 0 (head up over the center) is Anzalone (LB 34).

Prior to the snap, the quarterback motions a wide receiver away from where the ball is intended on being ran. For the Lions defense, it doesn’t change anything. Cam Sutton (CB 1) is aligned in the box prior to the motion but he just follows the motion towards the sideline. Meanwhile, the two inside linebackers motion slightly towards the motion to ensure they’re balanced to that motion.

Once the ball is snapped, you can see how the offensive line reach blocks to their left. With how the running back takes the handoff, it appears to be an outside zone run and he’s looking to get to the perimeter or bend the run back inside. Unfortunately for the running back, Anzalone does a great job staying square to the open rushing lane created by the center and right guard.

This forces hesitation for the running back and as he tries to bend it back inside, he’s immediately met from Anzalone in the hole. This is textbook from him and it’s something that he does consistently for the Lions defense.

Lastly, I want to focus on a huge run stop by Anzalone during a 2nd & 8 in the 3rd quarter with 2:23 left on the clock. Looking at the play above, the Bucs come out in a trips bunch formation to the right. While this trips bunch is a condensed set, it doesn’t mean anything to Anzalone, who is aligned as the WILL linebacker for the defense.

Prior to the snap, you can see that the Lions are aligned in a 4-2-5 defense or their nickel package. From his alignment, you’ll notice that Anzalone is aligned in a ’20’ (head up over the guard). Right before the snap, the Bucs will motion a receiver to the left and this makes it a 2×2 set after the ball is snapped.

As the quarterback hands the ball off to the running back, you’ll see the tight end run to his left and behind the offensive line. The tight end is trying to set a block on the perimeter for this counter run by the Bucs. However, Anzalone swipes the back of the tight end and continues his path downhill to meet the ball carrier for a half-yard gain. This stop made it 3rd down and the Bucs would punt it to Detroit. The Lions ended up scoring a field goal after this defensive stop.

Earlier this year, I mentioned in a film article how the Lions defense needs contributors alongside Aidan Hutchinson. Just a few short weeks later and the Lions are getting solid contribution on a weekly basis from their veteran linebacker. Like it or not but Alex Anzalone has provided a much needed spark to the middle of the Lions defense this season.

Lions film review: Grading Kayode Awosika’s start at LG vs. the Buccaneers

Awosika started in place of injured Jonah Jackson at left guard against Tampa Bay and had a mixed bag of a game

With regular left guard Jonah Jackson sidelined with an ankle injury, the Detroit Lions plugged Kayode Awosika into the starting lineup for the Week 6 matchup with the Buccaneers.

It was a bit of a surprise move, with regular starting RG Halapoulivaati Vaitai active after missing time with a knee injury. Vaitai only played on special teams, however, with top reserve Graham Glasgow still inserted in his place.

This was Awosika’s first start in 2023 and his first for the Lions at left guard. The third-year vet did start two games at right guard in 2022, in Weeks 12 and 13 (Buffalo and Jacksonville games). He’d been earning praise from teammates for his work in practices, and Awosika got the chance to prove himself against the Buccaneers.

Here’s what head coach Dan Campbell said about Awosika’s performance in his Monday press conference,

“Yeah, I think – look, I would say it was solid. It was solid. Look, that’s the first time this year he goes in there and bangs away. That’s a dang good unit, really good D-line. And there was some good and there was some that wasn’t so good, but I thought all-in-all, man, he really competed in there and gave us a chance.

And so, I thought it was positive. I thought it was positive. And I think really what it was is Big V is just steadily coming back from this. He’s kind of been on reserve, he was better this week than last week, but we just want to make sure that he’s 100 percent ready to go and then we’ll take it from there. But certainly, what Yode did is encouraging and I have a lot of faith in him. He’ll only get better as well.”

As part of the weekly film review session, I decided to focus on Awosika and grade out his performance. The criteria are pretty simple:

  • Wins on a rep earn a plus
  • Losses on a rep earn a minus
  • Not every rep has a win or loss

Here’s how it tallied out for Awosika over the course of 70 offensive snaps.

No. 74 earned his first plus on Detroit’s third offensive play. He nicely stayed with DT Calijah Kancey on a twist, not taking the bait with the end twisting inside. Center Frank Ragnow easily neutralized the loop, too.

That was the only mark, positive or negative, from the first drive.

Awosika’s first plus (or minus) in the run game came on a negative offensive play shortly after the Will Harris INT. From left guard, Awosika pulled across the formation and successfully engaged and pushed back the outside LB beyond the right end. Alas, the chaotic blocking assignments on the play saw RB David Montgomery swallowed by three defenders in the backfield. Somehow, Glasgow wound up on the ground outside left tackle Taylor Decker, who was behind right tackle Penei Sewell, who blocked the DT who was directly in front of Awosika at the snap.

His first minus came on the next Lions drive, in pass protection. This was a “look for work” opportunity where the Bucs didn’t have anyone for Awosika to block immediately. The scheme left him as the help assignment, and the help was needed with the Bucs blitzing the slot DB and an inside backer. David Montgomery picked the LB, but Awosika was exposed in never even seeing the backside help assignment. It’s a very difficult ask of a young player, but that’s a play we’ve seen Jonah Jackson make. Good on the Bucs for testing it, too. Jared Goff completed the pass under pressure to Amon-Ra St. Brown on the play.

At the half, Awosika had an even ledger:

6 plusses, 5 minuses

In pass protection, he was at three plusses and four minuses in the first half. Three of his minuses overall came on consecutive plays immediately after Montgomery left with an injury.

Second half

The second half was interesting, because it was an opportunity to see how Awosika adjusted to the Bucs’ defensive attack. Conversely, it also afforded an opportunity for those defenders to adapt to how No. 74 was playing.

The first two drives were a definite advantage to the defense. Awosika earned three minuses and one plus, all in pass protection.

As a general observation, cut blocking is not something Awosika should ever be asked to do again. Cut-block assignments against a quick DL like Kancey are setting Awosika up to fail. And he did.

For the game tally on Awosika

15 plusses, 16 minuses overall

In pass protection, it was an even split of 8/8. He was technically on the hook for one sack, though I had a hard time giving Awosika a minus on the play, a coverage sack where Goff stepped into the defender more than Awosika got beaten.

Run blocking saw seven plusses against eight minuses. When he was blocking someone in front of him to start the play, the split was 3/6. He was much better on the move in the run game. I didn’t grade Glasgow for this game, but the amount of times he didn’t engage anyone in the run game when asked to move was troubling. There’s a balance to be found there for OC Ben Johnson and OL coach Hank Fraley.

[lawrence-related id=97412]

 

Lions snap count notes vs. Buccaneers: Dan Campbell rode his starters to victory

Lions snap count notes vs. Buccaneers: Dan Campbell rode his starters to victory, playing reserves less than normal on both sides

The Detroit Lions improved to 5-1 with Sunday’s 20-6 win in Tampa Bay, and they got the victory by leaning heavily on the starting lineup, especially on offense.

Head coach Dan Campbell shortened the bench on offense in the win. Some of that was injury-related necessity. With regular starting guards Jonah Jackson and Halapoulivaaati Vaitai unable to start, the starting five playing the whole way was a necessity. All five played all 70 offensive snaps, as did QB Jared Goff.

The other key starters played very high percentages of the game. Amon-Ra St. Brown was on the field for over 90 percent (64 of 70), followed closely by Josh Reynolds (57) at wide receiver. Rookie TE Sam LaPorta repped on 58 snaps, with Brock Wright in for 43 as the Lions leaned heavily into using two TEs against the Bucs’ impressive defensive front.

The reserves didn’t get much action. Jameson Williams caught his two passes on just 16 snaps, which is one more than Kalif Raymond got on offense. David Montgomery’s injury after 18 snaps thrust Craig Reynolds (43) and Devine Ozigbo (6) into more action than expected. Dan Skipper played four reps as an extra tackle in his first game back on the active roster.

On defense, 17 players saw action for Detroit. Five never left the field, playing all 56 snaps: DBs Kerby Joseph, Tracy Walker, Jerry Jacobs, Cam Sutton and LB Alex Anzalone.

DE Aidan Hutchinson crept back up over 85 percent usage again, playing 50 reps. John Cominsky played a season-high 43 snaps, out-repping Charles Harris (18), Levi Onwuzurike (11) and Romeo Okwara (9) combined in the No. 2 DE role.

The Lions split playing a third LB and a fifth DB pretty evenly. Will Harris was the No. 5 DB and played 39 snaps, with no other CBs or safeties seeing action. Jack Campbell was the third LB at 29 snaps.

Vaitai did play, but only on special teams. He was one of 11 Lions to appear strictly on special teams. Notable again amongst the 11: linebacker Malcolm Rodriguez, his second straight game no seeing any action on defense.

Studs and Duds for the Lions victory over the Buccaneers

Here are this week’s Detroit Lions Studs and Duds for their victory over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers

The Detroit Lions proved themselves to be a formidable team by winning a tough game against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers with a score of 20-6.

Despite facing the challenge of playing away from home and missing some key players, the Lions were able to come out on top against a healthy Buccaneer team that had just come off a bye week. This win puts the Lions in a tie for the best record in the NFL. The organization’s ability to get the job done no matter the circumstances is impressive, and this win is a testament to how the Lions are run from top to bottom.

Although some players didn’t perform their best, the Lions still managed to secure a team victory. Here are the Lions Studs and Duds for their win over the Buccaneers.

Quick takeaways from the Lions impressive win over the Buccaneers

Quick takeaways from the Lions impressive Week 6 win over the Buccaneers

The Detroit Lions improved to 5-1 on the season with an impressive 20-6 win over the Buccaneers in Tampa Bay. Detroit’s defense did not allow a touchdown and controlled the game, while the offense made enough key plays to defeat the NFC South leaders in their own building.

Here are some of the takeaways from watching the Week 6 game in real-time.

Lions beat the Buccaneers and pass another road test

The Detroit Lions improved to 5-1 with an impressive road win over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers

There were myriad excuses ready to be baked into any Detroit Lions loss in Tampa Bay in Week 6. Between the myriad injuries all over the roster, the 3-1 Buccaneers coming off a bye week, Detroit playing on the road and outdoors, Tampa playing great D all season; there were several valid reasons why the Lions could have lost this game.

No excuses needed. These are not the same Lions who fail to rise to the occasion. Dan Campbell’s team doesn’t care about adversity, or reasons why they could lose.

The Lions went out and dominated the Buccaneers, 20-6, holding the home team without a touchdown. Tampa Bay didn’t get more than two first downs in any drive until their final one, which came up empty on four straight incompletions in the end zone.

Detroit’s offense manufactured its 20 points, none of which were easily earned. Quarterback Jared Goff was very good, completing 30 of his 44 passes for 353 yards and two touchdowns. Amon-Ra St. Brown caught a career-high 12 of those passes for 124 yards and the most important touchdown of the game.

The Buccaneers smothered Detroit’s rushing offense, which also lost David Montgomery to a rib injury in the first half. The Lions had 19 handoffs, and the runner was hit in the backfield on 11 of them, per the FOX broadcast. It was a game Goff needed to win, and he did just that–with considerable aid from a dominating defense of Detroit’s own.

The Lions are now 5-1 on the season and have won all three games on the road. Tampa Bay falls to 3-2, with losses to the Lions and Eagles both coming at home.

Watch: Craig Reynolds lays a massive block to get Amon-Ra St. Brown a touchdown

Lions RB Craig Reynolds with a highlight-reel block to get Amon-Ra St. Brown a touchdown

Offense was tough to come by in the first half of the Detroit Lions visit to Tampa Bay against the Buccaneers. Someone needed to light a spark and change the dynamic.

Enter Craig Reynolds.

The Lions running back made a phenomenal, effective, high-effort block that sprung wideout Amon-Ra St. Brown for the game’s first touchdown. Reynolds hustled from way out of the play to steamroll two Buccaneers defenders and clear a path up the right sideline for St. Brown to score.

This is grit personified from No. 13:

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

Lions vs. Buccaneers: Last-minute thoughts on the Week 6 matchups and final score prediction

The 4-1 Detroit Lions visit the 3-1 Tampa Bay Buccaneers in a key early-season NFC matchup. Both teams are looking to solidify their early divisional leads in a late-afternoon kickoff that much of the nation will get to watch.

It’s an interesting matchup, one that has my head spinning in several different directions as I drain the Sunday morning pot of coffee. Here’s what I’m feeling in the hour leading up to the Week 6 kickoff.

Why I think the Lions will win

  • Detroit’s run defense is a top-5 unit across the board. Tampa Bay’s rushing offense is the worst in the league, both in yards per carry (3.0) and the number of explosive runs of 15 yards or more; they’re the only team without a single run longer than 15 yards. The interior matchup of Alim McNeill, Isaiah Buggs and John Cominsky (when he kicks inside) against the Buccaneers IOL combination of Robert Hainsey, Cody Mauch and Matt Feiler is the single biggest advantage either team has in any matchup.
  • The Lions are well-equipped to win a scoring war against Tampa Bay. It’s not that the Bucs lack weaponry with Mike Evans, Chris Godwin and Cade Otten around a resurgent Baker Mayfield. They simply don’t score a lot. Their offense has just eight touchdowns in four games, while Detroit’s attack has posted 18 in five games — against a tougher overall defensive slate, too.
  • David Montgomery has emerged as one of the best running backs in the league at forcing missed tackles (21 on 88 attempts, 4th in the league). The Buccaneers, specifically LB Devin White, are one of the worst-tackling defenses in the NFL in run defense. While the Pro Football Focus tackling grades are nearly the same, the Buccaneers get bumped up because their defensive backs tackle after the catch extremely well and their pass rushers don’t miss sack attempts. The Bucs have actually missed more tackles in run defense than the Lions despite playing one fewer game.
  • The coaching staff has done a very good job of keeping the 4-1 team hungry and focused. Complacency is not an issue. Game preparation should not be an issue. Handling what looks like a pretty good football team is what Dan Campbell and his staff have prepared this Lions team to be. I don’t think they’ll overlook the Bucs or be caught off-guard by anything they see.

What worries me about Tampa Bay

  • Relative health of the two teams could be a very big issue. Tampa Bay is coming off a bye and has every key player available. The Lions will be without at least three key players (LG Jonah Jackson, DB Brian Branch, RB Jahmyr Gibbs) and they don’t have depth players who can fully replace what any of them give at their respective positions. Sam LaPorta looks like he’ll play, but how limited will he be? How limited will Taylor Decker continue to be at left tackle? How will Amon-Ra St. Brown look in his return? Meanwhile, the Bucs had a week off to ease up the thigh bruises, the sore shoulders, the tired knees, etc. Freshness matters.
  • Baker Mayfield is dangerous. He’s inconsistent and prone to occasional disaster, but he’s also handily the best quarterback the Lions have seen since Geno Smith back in Week 2. In fact, he plays a lot like Geno Smith–using his agility to keep downfield passing plays alive. He’s the best QB in the NFL on third down through Week 5. Detroit struggles against that type of QB, especially one with the receivers Mayfield (and Smith) have to work with. Mayfield is playing the like Baker in Cleveland who led the Browns to a playoff win in Pittsburgh not that long ago a lot more than he resembles the player who bounced between three teams in 2022.
  • Tampa Bay’s defense creates takeaways better than they get stops. While Jared Goff remains excellent with his decisions and execution, he can’t have slip-ups. Shaq Barrett and Vita Vea are very good at creating pressure. Antoine Winfield Jr. is an exceptional blitzer from the safety spot. Joe Tryon-Shoyinka is a tough matchup on the edge. The defense around the top dogs is very adept at capitalizing on mistakes.

Final score prediction

I think this is a 50/50 game. If they played 100 times right now, I think they’d split those outcome evenly. As long as the Lions don’t lose the turnover battle and can convert in the red zone, they’ve got a very good shot to improve to 5-1. The rested Bucs team with a smart defensive head coach and time to plan for the banged-up Lions worries me more than a little, however. Lions 24, Buccaneers 21

Lions vs. Buccaneers: How to watch, listen, stream the Week 6 game

Lions vs. Buccaneers: How to watch, listen, stream the Week 6 game

It’s a battle of first-place teams in Week 6 with the Detroit Lions visiting the Gulf Coast to face the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

Detroit Lions (4-1) at Tampa Bay Buccaneers (3-1)

Sunday, October 15th

Raymond James Stadium, Tampa FL, 4:25 p.m. ET

Watch

This game will be on FOX. Detroit draws the broadcast crew of play-by-play man Adam Amin and Daryl Johnston on color. Markets in the blue on the map below (courtesy 506 Sports) will get the game on their local FOX affiliates.

 

Listen

The game will be broadcast over the Detroit Lions radio affiliate network. Dan Miller handles the play-by-play, with Lomas Brown as the color analyst and T.J. Lang reporting from the sidelines.

The flagship station is 97.1 The Ticket in Detroit. The full list of affiliates can be found here.

On Sirius XM, the Lions broadcast feed is available on channel 810.

Stream

The NFL+ app (subscription required) is the league’s own network to view the game via a streaming device.

FUBO TV (subscription required) is another option.

 

 

Detroit Lions Podcast: Bish & Brown preview Lions vs. Buccaneers

Detroit Lions Podcast: Previewing Lions vs. Buccaneers with Scott Bischoff and Russell Brown

In addition to my content here on the Lions Wire, I’ve also been fortunate enough to team up with my friend and colleague Scott Bischoff. We’ll be teaming up and producing a weekly show for our friends over at the Detroit Lions Podcast network.

On this show, we’ll obviously talk about the Lions. However, we’ll also discuss their weekly opponent, how we expect the game to go and at some point, we’ll start adding some NFL Draft content into the mix.

This week, we previewed the Lions week 6 matchup against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Here’s what we discussed:

  • The Lions destroyed the Panthers for a 42-24 victory in week five.
  • Diversity in the Lions offense is why they’re one of the best teams in the NFL.
  • Expectations for Lions/Bucs.
  • All that and more!