TAMPA, Fla. – Phenomenal defense by the Detroit Lions sealed their 20-6 road victory over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers to improve to 5-1 on the season.
Detroit’s injury-depleted defense played as tight of a unit as they could on Sunday (Oct. 15) as they held Baker Mayfield, Mike Evans, Chris Godwin, and the rest of the Buccaneers offense to 251 yards total with 205 yards through the air and 46 coming from the ground.
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Although holding Mayfield and his passing attack to 205 yards was outstanding, the more impressive accomplishment was holding another rushing attack to under 100 yards in any of the first six games of a season. Detroit has accomplished that feat thrice in franchise history from 1930-1932.
Sunday’s shutdown of the run game was also the third time in their first six games that they’ve held an opponent to under 50 yards. The last time that was accomplished was back in 1943.
“I can’t say enough about our defensive performance out there today,” said head coach Dan Campbell. “Really, for five games this year, Aaron Glenn has done a really good job with that staff, and the players have bought in. We’re just playing as one unit right now, and we’re doing what we need to do.”
The defensive unit allowed 14 first downs, all coming through the air. They also held the Buccaneers to 2-15 on third downs. Although they only achieved one sack and one interception on the day, the Lions made Tampa Bay earn every yard of offense.
Both teams entered the matchup as leaders of their respective divisions as the Lions are kings of the NFC North while the Buccaneers sat atop the NFC South. The Buccaneers came into the matchup averaging 21 points per game, but against Detroit, they scored two field goals in the afternoon slate.
The tempo was set early by defensive end Isaiah Buggs, who, during the Buccaneers second drive of the game, tipped Mayfield’s pass, which landed in the hands of safety Will Harris for an interception, placing the Lions offense deep in Tampa Bay’s territory.
The tipped play gave the Lions a 3-0 lead, and the defensive side of the ball didn’t look back.
“(Isaiah) Buggs for that tipped ball we talked about, and then Will Harris gets that turnover, and it leads to points, which kind of starts it off for us,” Campbell said.
Alex Anzalone led the team in total tackles with nine, followed by rookie Jack Campbell, who accounted for seven, and Tracy Walker III, who had six.
“He (Anzalone) just continues to play at a very high level,” Campbell said. “He is an extremely smart football player, and he is playing as physical as I’ve ever seen him, and he’s playing at an extremely high level. You’d be hard-pressed to find backers playing harder than him right now in this league.”
Offense
The offense followed the precedent set early and often by the defense, as mentioned above. The team just needed their captain on the field to lead the ship, and that’s precisely what quarterback Jared Goff did.
Goff completed 30-44 passes for 353 yards and two touchdowns, and he connected with his favorite target in wide receiver Amon-Ra St. Brown.
Amon-Ra St. Brown
St. Brown missed week five due to an abdomen injury, but his return in week six had him looking like a Halloween character as he nabbed 12 receptions for 124 yards and one score.
His lone score came partly thanks to running back Craig Reynolds, who made the ultimate hustle play.
Reynolds, fresh off the pine, filled in for starting running back David Montgomery, who left the game with a rib injury, ran down the field and blocked cornerback Carlton Davis to free up St. Brown for a 27-yard catch and run for six.
“We had a call on, but he (Goff) checked out of it,” said St. Brown. “I think it was like a blitz or something. They were doing it basically all game, but he checked it out, and I had a little choice route, and I broke in. They call it a catch and knife, which means get up field and get as many yards as you can.”
St. Brown continued:
“I was like, ‘You know what, I’m going to cut across the field, and I’m going to try to score.’ I cut across, and I see 24 (Davis), and then I see Craig come out of nowhere, and I kind of point at 24, and I just see Craig just come zooming and lights him up. He’s the reason why I scored. It was a huge block, but it was fun, man. It was a huge play for us as we teach blocking after the catch, and it showed up big time for us when we needed it most, and so, hats off to Craig, man.”
The 124 receiving yards was St. Brown’s ninth career 100-yard game, tying him with Calvin Johnson (Megatron) for the second most 100-yard receiving games a player in franchise history has had through their first three seasons.
“That’s what he (Reynolds) does,” Campbell said. “You talk about a guy who plays for the guys around him and just does things right. He shows up in critical times when not everybody sees him. Honestly, he does stuff like that all the time, and then for St. To use him, and you saw him take that loop around and use that block and then find a way to take it into the endzone that was just huge.”
Campbell continued:
“That’s a couple of players making plays for us. That’s what that was, and honestly, that was a great call by Ben (Johnson). It was nothing too advanced about it. He knew that we were going to get pressured. Let’s just get it into Saints’ hands. We knew we had a third and long. Let’s just get it in his hands and make a play, and that’s what happened. Playmakers make plays.”
The 27-yard score was Goff’s sixth touchdown pass of 20 or more yards during the 2023 season.
Jameson Williams
Goff’s seventh came in speedster Jameson Williams’ eighth career game as he hit the youngster on a 45-yard dagger to seal the game. Williams finished the day catching two passes for 53 yards.
“It was a great catch by him, but it probably was not a great throw, but it was a great catch,” Goff said. “It’s good when at quarterback you can miss a throw, and a guy is able to make a play like that for a touchdown. It doesn’t get much better.”
Goff continued:
“It was a pretty simple concept there. He (Williams) was the top shelf there. The corner kind of bit the sail to St. (Brown), so there was nobody there. If I threw a little bit more of a better ball it, it’ll probably look better, but he (Williams) made a great play.”
The big score was Williams’ second touchdown of his young career, and both scores were over 40 yards. The last player in Lions history to score his first two touchdowns with 40 or more yard receptions was Germane Crowell in 1998.
Detroit will look to extend their winning streak to five in week seven when they’ll travel to Baltimore to take on Lamar Jackson, Odell Beckham Jr., and the Ravens inside M&T Bank Stadium Sunday (Oct. 22). Kickoff is at 1 p.m.