The Hunt Report: Detroit Lions Blast Tampa Bay Buccaneers With Tough Defense

After a hot start to the year, the Detroit Lions had started to get away from dominant defense carrying the team and helping to create wins in the middle of the season.

Josh McCown and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers wouldn’t believe you if you told them that.

With an aggressive line that forced six sacks, the Lions turned up the heat on McCown and the Buccaneers, winning 34-17. Detroit also forced three turnovers to aid in the cause. Offensively, Matthew Stafford put on a show, throwing for 311 yards and three scores. Calvin Johnson dominated as well, putting up 158 yards and a score. All told, the hunt was more successful than the 17 point spread looked by game’s end.

The Lions are still in the thick of the playoff race thanks to their dominating day. What else was noticed amidst Detroit atoning for a crushing loss last season? The Hunt Report breaks it down.

The Defensive Line Holds The Key To The Season. When the Lions are humming along on defense, their line is getting in the face of the quarterback and forcing him to make mistakes, allowing coverage in the secondary to play loose and excellent. If Detroit plays like this, they can beat anybody in the league as they proved on Sunday. Everybody up front got into the act of knocking McCown around and pressuring him, as linebacker DeAndre Levy had two sacks. When the Lions are free wheeling up front, they can play with any team in the league. Late in the season, if the line can continue to make a huge impact in games, don’t count Detroit out of the divisional race. They might even be able to make some playoff noise, as well.

Reports Of Calvin Johnson’s Demise Are Greatly Exaggerated. This past week, there was some unsubstantiated rumblings that the Lions could be looking to draft wide receivers out of fear that Johnson was starting to break down. In response, all Johnson did Sunday was put up 158 yards and a score. Clearly, Johnson can still play at an elite level, and was still getting open down the middle of the field and making extremely tough catches, including the one he made in the corner of the end zone. Detroit might like to draft another receiver next spring, but it certainly won’t be because Johnson has lost any of his own game.

This Bell Can Ring. Obviously, Johnson was the star of the offensive show, but Joique Bell also enjoyed an excellent afternoon, scoring twice and collecting 83 yards on the ground and 50 through the air. Bell was the biggest force on screen passes, and was dominant out of the backfield as well. Late in the game, he also showed extraordinary focus nabbing a deflected pass for a score. When Bell is ringing along, Detroit’s offense looks much more organized and capable than when he is not.

Tight End Time. A big key for the Lions moving forward is getting more from the tight end position. Finally, some of Detroit’s bigger pass-catchers started to show signs of snapping out of their funks. Eric Ebron had 28 yards receiving and Joseph Fauria had 17 while scoring a key touchdown. The more the Lions can work the bigger tight ends into the fold, the better their chances of breaking out of red zone funks and elongated scoring droughts. It’s nice to see the tight ends starting to make an impact at a key time of the year.

Focus Was Most Paramount. The only way the Lions were going to allow a team with the troubles of Tampa Bay to hang around was by slipping into a coma from a lack of focus due to looking ahead or behind. Fortunately, Jim Caldwell and the staff pushed all the right buttons and the team looked well prepared by Sunday. At times, penalties became an issue, but the Lions didn’t turn the ball over, nor make the kinds of mistakes that losing football teams tend to make. That’s big news in the middle of this playoff push, especially considering Detroit’s woeful December record.

Lions? In addition to Stafford, Johnson and Bell, credit Joseph Fauria for getting into the end zone for the first time this season. Defensively, Ndamukong Suh (six tackles, one sack) and DeAndre Levy (5 tackles, two sacks) had the best days.

Lambs? It was a solid team win, but the pass defense left plenty to be desired at times. Rashean Mathis struggled with Mike Evans despite piling up the tackles. Isa Abdul-Quddus gets singled out for a bad penalty on a punt return.

What About The Key Matchup? Entering this game, we said it would be important to watch Theo Riddick going against the linebackers. Riddick didn’t play, but Reggie Bush did, and managed to look solid running for 26 yards. Bell also picked up the slack, contributing 133 total yards. All in all, the efforts of the running backs did help take pressure off Stafford, and allow him to excel dropping back in the pocket.

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Number To Note: 43, the number of yards the Buccaneers lost to sacks on Sunday. Had Tampa Bay been able to pass protect a bit better, they could have done well to hang around, but that became a moot point with the way McCown was getting pressured and harassed. Any time a team loses nearly 50 yards in sacks, it’s clear the defense is getting busy and giving their team a great shot of winning.

He Said It: “We want to help them up and knock them back down again.” —Ndamukong Suh. No stranger to critisism for dirty play, Suh was the one putting out the olive branch on Sunday afternoon, offering to help McCown up after blasting him outside of the pocket. Suh was a difference maker for the defense, and his decision to provide the quarterback his hand in a peace offering proved to be a nice talking point after the fact. Fearsome on the field in play, perhaps Suh has finally learned that discretion is the better part of valor with the opposition.