Defense was ready.
Bucs quarterback Baker Mayfield wasn’t making any excuses Monday night on the Buccaneers Radio Network.
> “I don’t even want to see our third down percentage,” Mayfield said. “That was horrible.”
Mayfield isn’t wrong, but there is a caveat to the truth.
The Bucs converted just 4 of 16 third downs against the Lions. So yeah, Mayfield was right.
But you know what? The Lions were even worse.
The Bucs defense held the Lions to just 3 of 13 third-down conversions. That’s 23 percent.
Did the defense give up big plays? It sure did. But the Bucs offense didn’t hold up its end of the bargain. At all.
Despite the Lions seemingly pounding the Bucs, Detroit only had a 14-3 lead at halftime. The Bucs defense held them to 24 points.
Yes, Joe knows the Lions are good. Very good. But man, when you hold any team on the road to 24 points, you not only should be in the game, but that puts your team in a damn good position to win the game.
The Bucs’ offense p!ssed down their legs.
So props to the defense for keeping the Bucs somewhat in the game until the final minutes. In this loss, the Bucs offense simply was not ready to play and had few answers to Detroit’s physical style.