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Behind Enemy Lines with Buccaneers Wire editor River Wells previewing Detroit’s Week 6 matchup
Sunday’s matchup in Tampa with the Buccaneers pits two first-place teams against one another. Both the Lions and Bucs are looking to prove their one-loss starts are legit.
It should be an interesting matchup. To help learn more about the Buccaneers, River Wells of Buccaneers Wire agreed to answer a few questions about the current NFC South leaders.
Lions final injury report for Week 6: Brian Branch, Jahmyr Gibbs ruled OUT vs. Tampa Bay
The final injury status report for the Detroit Lions in Week 6 rules out several starters from Sunday’s game against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
Two key players on the offense will not play due to injury. Rookie running back Jahmyr Gibbs will miss his second straight game with a hamstring injury. Left guard Jonah Jackson is also out with an ankle injury suffered in the Week 5 win over Carolina.
Also on offense, reserve tight end James Mitchell and running back Zonovan Knight were ruled out. Knight is expected to land on I.R. with a season-ending shoulder injury, a move that could happen before Saturday’s roster finalization.
On defense, standout rookie defensive back Brian Branch will miss a second week with an ankle injury. He was hurt in the Week 4 win in Green Bay. Cornerback Emmanuel Moseley remains on the roster for now despite tearing his ACL in last Sunday’s game. Moseley was also officially ruled out and could be sent to I.R. to make room for the activation of CB Khalil Dorsey from I.R.
Dorsey and rookie TE Sam LaPorta are officially questionable. LaPorta indicated after Friday’s practice that he expects to play despite missing Thursday’s practice with a calf strain.
Former Lions LB Larry Foote is the Bucs’ defensive coordinator and had a lot of positive things to say about Detroit’s offense
The name Larry Foote should ring a bell for Lions fans. The longtime NFL linebacker, a Detroit native and Michigan grad, spent the 2009 season with the Lions. He led Jim Schwartz’s first Lions team in tackles before moving back to Pittsburgh and the Steelers, where he spent 11 of his 13 seasons.
Foote is now the defensive coordinator for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. That makes him the man charged with trying to stop the Lions offensive attack directed by Ben Johnson. In a press conference earlier this week, Foote admitted it’s going to be a challenge for his Bucs defense, which ranks eighth in points and 11th in yards allowed.
“That offense is high-powered,” Foote said of Detroit. “The guys have got to buy in, and you’ve got to win your one-on-one matchups.”
Foote seems especially concerned about Detroit’s rushing attack. It’ ‘s with good reason; his Bucs rank dead last in run defense grade (44.4) from PFF through the first four weeks, while the Lions offense ranks 7th in rushing yards and averages 4.3 yards per carry.
“It’s going to be a big challenge because everybody knows that they’re coming in here to run the ball and that’s their identity,” Foote said. “The last time [we faced] a good running team, they won it.”
He also sees Detroit’s play-action passing game as a matchup priority. Foote was highly complimentary of Jared Goff and the Lions’ ability to sell the fakes.
“I put him in that group with [Tom] Brady and [Peyton] Manning as far as the play action,” Foote said. “They sell it. They do a good job of selling it.”
Foote is in his second season running the Tampa Bay defense, a role he shares with Kacy Rodgers. He’s been coaching defense in the league since he retired from the NFL in 2015.
Thanks to Buccaneers Wire and River Wells for the quotes!
The Lions Week 6 game vs. Buccaneers flexed to a later start
For most of the last decade or so, the Detroit Lions have been a fixture in the 1 p.m ET viewing window. Fans accustomed to the routine have been in for some radical change already this year. And with the ongoing success of the team, the changes keep on coming.
The Lions will not be playing in that standard window in Week 6 any longer. Detroit’s trip to Tampa Bay in two weeks has been flexed from the 1 p.m. slot to a 4:25 p.m. kickoff by FOX, who will broadcast the game.
Both the Lions and Buccaneers are in first place after Week 4 with matching 3-1 records. It’s an appealing matchup that will garner a bigger potential audience with less competition in the more prominent viewing window.
The Buccaneers will rock throwback “Creamsicle” uniforms vs. the Lions in Week 6
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The last time the Detroit Lions won a division title, they still played in the NFC Central. One of those divisional foes was the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
That was back in 1991, a year when the Lions finished 12-4 and the Buccaneers brought up the back of the old division at 3-13. Those Buccaneers at least looked good despite all the losing. The “creamsicle” orange uniforms with the pirate on the helmet were classics.
The Buccaneers are bringing those back for the first time in over a decade when Tampa Bay hosts the Lions in Week 6. The Bucs haven’t worn the classic uniforms since 2012.
Hey, Hey, Tampa Bay!
The Creamsicles officially return October 15 against the Detroit Lions. pic.twitter.com/BZuohyPq4u
— Tampa Bay Buccaneers (@Buccaneers) June 12, 2023
The two teams were part of the NFC Central from 1977 — the Buccaneers’ second season of existence — until the NFC moved to 4-team divisions in 2002. They have not rocked the throwback uniform against the Lions before.
It’s a sign of just how difficult the Bob Quinn/Matt Patricia legacy is going to be to overcome
It’s over. That’s about the only saving grace for the Detroit Lions in one of the most inept displays of football by any NFL team in recent memory.
The Lions fell at home to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, 47-7, on Saturday. It was a Boxing Day display that fans should try to return to the nearest store, because it certainly wasn’t worth the time investment to watch what is the lowest point for the franchise since the winless 2008 campaign.
The Buccaneers racked up over 400 yards in the first half en route to a 34-0 advantage. It really wasn’t that close, either. They scored touchdowns on five of their six possessions. The Lions managed two first downs in their first five drives, all ending in punts. Oh yeah, quarterback Matthew Stafford hobbled to the locker room with an ankle injury. Thankfully he did not return.
This is not a reflection on interim-to-the-interim coach Ron Prince and the skeleton coaching staff rushed into service well above their pay grades. With many key players sidelined due to injuries, Prince and the crew really didn’t have much to work with. But whatever they tried did not work.
Tom Brady ended with a perfect passer rating of 158.3 on four touchdown passes and 348 yards. Just for good measure, Bucs backup Blaine Gabbert threw two TDs of his own and netted more passing yards (143) in a handful of drives than the combination of Stafford, Chase Daniel and David Blough managed (113) all game.
It’s a sign of just how difficult the mercifully deposed Bob Quinn/Matt Patricia legacy is going to be to overcome. The view without Stafford at quarterback was downright terrifying, something to consider when the inevitable talks of trading No. 9 fire up. This loss was as bad as any Lions game I can remember in my lifetime and I remember Greg Landry as the starting quarterback over 40 years ago.
The misery ends next Sunday when the Lions host Minnesota in a game that decides last place in the NFC North. It can’t possibly be worse than what we witnessed on Saturday.
Reviewing the studs and duds from the Detroit Lions Week 16 game against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
In what may be the ugliest game of football ever played by the Detroit Lions, there were too many mistakes and bad plays to count.
Tampa Bay routed the Lions in this 47-7 blowout of a matchup. The offense was never able to find momentum and the defense couldn’t stop the Buccaneers if they tried.
The list of players who had rough performances in this game is seemingly endless and it feels like there wasn’t any silver lining to this embarrassing loss. Nevertheless, some players shined in this otherwise forgettable game.
The veteran pass rusher was one of the only bright spots on defense in this blowout loss to Tampa Bay. Near the end of the first quarter, Griffen landed a sack on Brady that forced a second-and-long.
Twice in the first half, the Lions committed penalties that drastically altered the course of the game.
Though Griffen had a good game overall, his offsides penalty on Tampa Bay’s first offensive drive was the play that got the ball rolling for Tom Brady and his offense.
Jahlani Tavai was able to sack Brady and force a fourth down, but Griffen’s penalty negated the sack and Brady threw a touchdown right after.
On Detroit’s first drive on offense, left tackle Taylor Decker committed another costly penalty. The former first-round pick was called for a false start on a fourth-down attempt that forced the Lions to punt as a result.
As the only Lions player to find the endzone and prevent this game from being a shutout, Agnew has proved that he is a stud as Detroit’s punt returner. The former All-Pro return man took a punt to the house in the third quarter and put Detroit’s first points on the board.
This is Jamal Agnew’s 4th punt return for a TD in his 4 years in the league pic.twitter.com/oy4xZbJL9w
— Erik Schlitt (@erikschlitt) December 26, 2020
The offensive line struggled as a whole, but Jackson had one very glaringly bad snap. Former Lions sixth-round pick Jeremiah Ledbetter easily overpowered Jackson for a sack on Chase Daniel.
Okwara recorded his ninth sack of the year, a career-high, and recorded another forced fumble — his third on the season.
Tavai got the start at linebacker with Jamie Collins out with an injury. The second-year linebacker out of Hawaii struggled throughout the game and missed several tackles as both Brady and Blaine Gabbert easily dissected the defense.
Fox continued his Pro Bowl season by averaging 47.8-yards over eight punts, with five of them landing inside the 20-yard line.
This poor showing has done more damage than anyone could have expected. With the Lions now on their second primetime loss of the season, everyone who watches football is aware of just how bad this team is this season.
For a team that is in need of a new general manager, a new coaching staff, and has plenty of players set to be free agents, it’s hard to see many people who would want to be part of this organization after this loss.
