Three key lessons from the Detroit Lions’ hard-fought victory over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers
The Detroit Lions are a great team to watch, and their victory on Sunday was a scrappy dogfight that they relished. Here are three takeaways from the victory.
What a triumph! This is exactly what Dan Campbell had in mind when he preached “grit” last year. The Detroit Lions went into Raymond James Stadium and defeated the Tampa Bay Buccaneers 20-6. Here are three lessons from their incredible performance, which advanced them to 5-1 on the season and their fourth consecutive victory.
Three takeaways from the Detroit Lions’ fourth consecutive victory
There are several factors that contributed to today’s success, but a couple stand out above the others. Specifically, Jared Goff’s offensive leadership, the defense’s overwhelming dominance, and Ben Johnson’s brilliance.
Jared Goff requires ice for his back.
We can say whatever we want about Jared Goff, and I’ve written plenty about him. But, give credit where credit is due, this guy is now on fire. He took some time to get used to this game, but when the Lions needed him, he delivered. The Lions’ rushing attack was non-existent, especially with David Montgomery injured. They ran the ball 22 times for 40 yards against a tenacious Tampa Bay defence. As a result, Goff loaded the team onto his shoulders and carried them. He completed 30 of 44 passes for 353 yards and two touchdowns. Not to mention his command of the offence in the fourth quarter, engineering a drive that saw the Lions retain the ball for 6:52 and put the Bucs’ offence ahead.
The Lions’ defence may be… uh… good?
The Lions’ defence was one of the greatest unknowns heading into the season. But not only have they been improved, but they’ve been downright dominant in games. Sure, this offence was led by Baker Mayfield, which is nothing out of the ordinary, but they simply dominated. They only allowed the Bucs two third-down conversions out of 12 attempts and limited them to 251 yards total. And the secondary, which we thought needed to step up, did so, allowing Mayfield to barely get 200 yards. They’ll be put to the test next week against Lamar Jackson’s legs, but this defence is solid. You better believe it!
Ben Johnson, offensive mastermind
Okay, this isn’t really a revelation, but it bears mentioning. The way he called the fourth-quarter drive in which the Lions took over with 10:37 remaining and returned it to the Buccaneers with only 3:55 remaining. And he did it all without even a hint of a running game. He grabbed the bull by the horns and began calling a short rapid game with screens, which he used as an extension of their run game to keep the clock ticking. It was pure genius, and I’m pleased he’s still with us, if only for another season.
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