DETROIT -- A superstar showing from Jahmyr Gibbs and an impressively stingy night from the short-handed defense carried the Detroit Lions to a 24-9 victory against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Monday night.
Gibbs finished 218 total yards and two touchdowns, and a secondary that was missing every Week 1 starter held Baker Mayfield in check.
The Lions (5-2) head into their bye week, and trail only Green Bay (4-1-1) for the NFC’s best record.
Detroit’s defense was flying around the field all night long. For a group missing their top two cornerbacks and three of their top safeties, the Lions once again relied on less heralded names to answer the call.
Gibbs 78-yard touchdown run put the Lions up 14-0 in the second quarter, answering the call after the offense had turned the ball over on downs, lost a fumble and missed a long field goal. Later, after Tampa Bay had pulled to within 14-9, it was Gibbs again, on a 5-yard score with 4:39 left in the third quarter.
Gibbs finished with 17 carries for 136 yards, adding 82 receiving yards in his best showing of the season.
Amon-Ra St. Brown had a quiet second half after a big first 30 minutes, finishing with 86 yards on six catches. Lions quarterback Jared Goff lost a fumble on a sack, but stood tall and took some shots from Tampa’s “blitz-fest” defense. Goff finished 20 of 29 passing for 241 yards with one touchdowns and one interception. It wasn’t the quarterback’s best showing of the season, but Gibbs and the defense shouldered the load.
The Buccaneers and Mayfield showed a lot more fight in the second half. Tampa Bay’s offense nearly doubled its net yardage from the first half on its opening drive of the second half alone. But falling behind 21-9 and trying to answer, the Bucs turned the ball over on downs after a timely throwing of the red challenge flag by Lions coach Dan Campbell.
At first, the Bucs were awarded the first down on the extra effort after a catch from tight end Cade Otton. After Campbell’s challenge, officials took another look at the play and ruled that Otton was short and awarded the ball to Detroit.
The Lions’ offense didn’t move the ball much, but kicker Jake Bates made up for a previous miss, clanking the field goal from 58 yards off the upright for a 24-9 lead with 10:16 left in the game.
The defense made Mayfield and the Bucs fight for every inch on the next drive. Tampa Bay converted two fourth downs on an 18-play drive, but a Nick Whiteside pass breakup in the end zone ended the Bucs’ hopes.
Mayfield had a brutal night, completing 28 of 50 attempts for 228 yards with one score and one interception. The Lions held the Bucs to only four third-down conversions on 16 attempts, and 2 of 5 on fourth down.
**See below for more observations from the game:**
\-- The Lions have now won 20 straight games after leading at halftime, extending what was already the NFL’s longest active streak. They also have won 28 straight games after leading heading into the fourth quarter, another league-long streak.
\-- Alim McNeill wasn’t just back in the lineup. He was a force to be reckoned with on the defensive line, pushing offensive linemen into the backfield. McNeill had a pressure on his second play of the year, and knocked away a third-down pass at the line of scrimmage. The 25-year-old finished with three pressures in his first action in 10 months.
\-- Aidan Hutchinson and Al-Quadin Muhammad were forces to be reckoned with. Pro Football Focus credited Hutchinson with 11 pressures and Muhammad with eight, making life hard for Mayfield in the pocket. Even defensive lineman Tyrus Wheat got busy, notching 1.5 sacks and on two pressures.
\-- On his 78-yard TD run, Gibbs hit 22.23 mph while leaving Tampa’s defense in the dust. It’s the third-fastest run of the season, with the Lions running back now owning two of the NFL’s three fastest runs through seven games. Gibbs became the first NFL player since Chris Johnson in 2009 to have at least 135 rushing yards, 80 receiving yards and two rushing touchdowns. He became the seventh player in team history, and first since Kevin Smith in 2011, to have 200-plus scrimmage yards and two scores in a single game.
\-- The Lions said they wanted to get the ball in David Montgomery’s hands more. But when Gibbs is playing like this, it’s completely understandable that Montgomery finished with only 23 rushing yards on 13 attempts, with a handful of those coming while protecting the two-score lead.
\-- With a depleted secondary, the Lions called on Rock Ya-Sin, Erick Hallett II, Thomas Harper, Arthur Maulet and Nick Whiteside. Ya-Sin started at outside cornerback with Amik Robertson. The veteran cornerback was sticky on Mike Evans in the first half. Evans exited in the first half and did not return. And Ya-Sin dealt with cramping issues for most of the second half.
When Ya-Sin exited, Whiteside came up with a nice pass breakup on a two-point attempt. Maulet had an impressive interception to rip the ball from Otton’s grasp. And Robertson was back to his punch-out ways, forcing a fumble recovered by Hutchinson. Robertson and Maulet deserve a ton of credit for holding things down.
\-- Taylor Decker was back in the starting lineup at left tackle after missing two games. And while Decker’s presence was a welcome sight, Penei Sewell and rookie Tate Ratledge were monsters in the rushing attack. Goff was sacked four times and took another 10 hits.
\-- Dan Campbell is now 13-3 in primetime games since taking over as Lions head coach back in 2021. The Lions lost on Sunday night last week, but got back on track on Monday night. Most impressively, the Lions and Campbell still haven’t lost back-to-back regular season games since October 2022.
\-- The Lions were dealing with cramping throughout the night. Maulet and Ya-Sin had cramping issues, while linebacker Zach Cunningham reaggravated his hamstring injury. Running back Craig Reynolds also suffered a hamstring injury in the victory.
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