Depleted Buccaneers Beat Detroit Dramatically

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers headed into Detroit banged-up looking for revenge of their divisional round playoff loss last season.

They were without Calijah Kancey, Luke Goedeke, and Antoine Winfield Jr. Then they lost Vita Vea during the game. And guess what? It didn’t matter. The Bucs get what is quite possibly the best win of the Bowles era, including the playoff game.

To upend a Super Bowl contender missing half your defense in their stadium isn’t just impressive, it’s deserving of all the praise in the world. I pointed out that last season, the Bucs benefited from playing a lot of mediocre or bad teams and they didn’t win against quality opponents. Well, they shut me the hell up. Were their flaws? Definitely, and the Bucs did benefit from some baffling decisions by Detroit. But Detroit had every chance to pull out a win and the Buccaneers held.

To start with the bad, I will go to an oft-overlooked aspect of the game. Special teams. Jake Camarda has been bad, no getting around it. After a spectacular rookie season, he has been inconsistent at best. He nearly gave the Lions a win after the offense gave the ball back (which is inexcusable on its own) and he shorted the punt. And that was the second time he did it that game. But, he shouldn’t have had to punt because the Bucs offense couldn’t do anything. The run game was once again abysmal. Baker Mayfield was the leading rusher. At this point, I have to start looking at Rachaad White. He has shown up as a passing target, but his good rushing performances are few and far between.

Liam Coen also did not do great. That first TD to Chris Godwin brought tears to my eyes with how beautiful it was, but after that… He absolutely refused to chip Aidan Hutchinson despite him getting three sacks in the 1st quarter. Not the game nor even a half, the first quarter. Unacceptable. I know who they’re missing, but to leave a backup on an island against one of the best pass rusher is negligent. And the fact he threw on first down at the end of the game, giving the Lions a TO.

But let’s not focus on the negative. Give a game ball to the entire defense. The secondary absolutely suffocated Detroit outside a couple splash plays. Christian Izien made me think Antoine Winfield Jr. was still on the field and SirVocea Dennis looked like Lavonte David. Oh, and Zyon McCollum might be the best corner on the team. He absolutely locked down receivers. He caught one interception, but could’ve had three. It’s like Carlton never left. Again, I have to remind you this was without Vita Vea. Hell, even JTS showed up. The defense did have trouble with getting pressure, but to hold the Lions to only one TD on seven red zone trips is a miracle. Also, their line is actually healthy.

And I know I was down on the offense, but how about Chris Godwin? He looks like he has turned the clock back to 2019. He has been catching damn near everything. No other receiver even had a catch until the second quarter. Bucky Irving also looked fine. Nothing special, but he showed me more than White did.

The Buccaneers are still a flawed team, but they have proven they are a team to contend with in the playoffs. To go into Ford Field with the offense the Lions have and to hold them to 16 points, it’s amazing. If the Bucs can just get that run game going and ride out these injuries, we have something special here. Bucs can find themselves in the title game.