There are 2 huge reasons why the Bucs beat the Lions and they have Tampa Bay on track for the playoffs yet again
OK, yes, it's Week 2. Even for the Kansas City Chiefs, it's too early to talk playoffs. But damnit, it's nearly impossible to avoid that discussion after watching the beat up Tampa Bay Buccaneers get its second dub of the 2024 season over the ascending Detroit Lions on Sunday.The Bucs have a good team, but they […]
OK, yes, it's Week 2. Even for the Kansas City Chiefs, it's too early to talk playoffs.
But damnit, it's nearly impossible to avoid that discussion after watching the beat up Tampa Bay Buccaneers get its second dub of the 2024 season over the ascending Detroit Lions on Sunday.
The Bucs have a good team, but they were outmanned in several key areas thanks to an early onslaught of injuries to their best players. All-Pro safety Antoine Winfield Jr., starting right tackle Luke Goedeke, former first-rounder and starting defensive lineman Calijah Kancey were all ruled out ahead of the game. Things became even more dire when Pro Bowl defensive lineman Vita Vea had to leave the game early after Yaya Diaby collided into his knee.
We saw what Goedeke's absence resulted in (4.5 sacks by Lions defensive end Aidan Hutchinson), but, the other absences didn't affect the game as nearly as much. Multiple players, from starters to reserves, stepped up and helped the Bucs get their revenge from the 31-23 Divisional Round loss back in January.
"Having a bunch of guys out [and] a lot of guys stepping up in a huge way, and for it to come down to critical moments in a really tight ballgame, and everybody stepping up is so big for everybody on this team," Bucs quarterback Baker Mayfield said after the game. "… [There are] still a lot of games left, but for us, building chemistry and building this resiliency and the culture that we want – this is a huge win for us. So we have to continue to build on that."
While there were a lot of factors that contributed to the Bucs' big win, there are two clear reasons why and both can help the Bucs get to the postseason for the fifth-straight season.
Baker Mayfield is playing at a Pro Bowl level and is on track for his best season yet
Mayfield won the FedEx Air Player of the Week award after dominating the Washington Commanders in Week 1 and while his stats weren't as pretty this time around – the dude continued to ball out and make huge plays with his arms and his legs.
The latter of the two are becoming a major weapon for Liam Coen's offense and this couldn't become any clearer after the Bucs offensive coordinator called a quarterback draw on a 1st and 10 from the Lions 11 that immediately led to a rushing touchdown for Mayfield. The touchdown run also proved to be the difference in the final score and it's also the longest TD run of Mayfield's NFL career.
"That was a call from Liam," Bucs head coach Todd Bowles said after the game. "That was something we saw, it was a designed play, and Baker carried it out… You have to have a feel for that. He has a great feel for that, and that's part of his game that's helped our offense be better, and we like it."
The "feel" Bowles referred to is Mayfield's ability to get out of a sack, which was on display multiple times for the second week in a row. Like Bowles said, it's an element that makes the offense better and I don't think the Bucs beat the Lions without Mayfield's legs. Mainly because of the chaos Hutchinson was creating all day long.
Outside of the interception Mayfield threw toward the end of the second half, he was on point in the passing game, as well. The connection between him and Chris Godwin is on track to be a top-5 tandem this year and nearly looks impossible to defend on third down.
Mayfield is playing at a Pro Bowl level, which backs up all the positive reports that came out of training camp and the preseason. He should only get better as the season goes on, too, which is a scary thought for the other 31 NFL defenses.
Bucs got the job done in the red zone and on third down, which is key when defending the NFL's top offenses
The Lions were just the first of many top offenses the Bucs will have to face in 2024. Two matchups with the surprisingly surging New Orleans Saints and then matchups against the Baltimore Ravens, Kansas City Chiefs, San Francisco 49ers, and Dallas Cowboys are pivotal matchups that feature both elite offenses and excellent quarterback play.
You can't really stop those offenses, you mostly slow them down. The best way to do that is to get them off the field on third down and hold them to field goals instead of touchdowns. On Sunday, the Lions were a pathetic 1-of-7 in the red zone and 7-of-17 on third down. That simply won't cut it when playing the league's best teams.
"It was tough. It was gritty. It took a lot of guys [and] it took a lot of effort," Bucs head coach Todd Bowles said after the game. "They played on the same page. They understood the assignment [and] they carried it out. They made some great underneath tackles to save us some touchdowns and have them kick field goals…
"… Between [the interceptions] and the red zone on defense, that was the tale of the tape, right there."
The key, here, is the Lions' prowess in both the red zone and on third down. Ben Johnson's offense was the 10th-best third down offense (41.5%) and third-best red zone offense (64.1%) in 2023. Goff and co. were pretty good in those situations against the Rams in Week 1, as well, converting 50% of their red zone trips and 46.2% of their third down attempts.
It just makes the short-handed Bucs defenses's performance even all the more impressive and it makes one wonder what the unit can do when it gets healthier.
Sure, there are plenty of things the Bucs need to work on (like their running game, specifically) and the team needs to get healthy, fast. But, overall, it's impossible to dislike what Todd Bowles and co. have done over the first two weeks of the season. Now, it's time to carry it all over into Week 3 against the Denver Broncos and get off to the first 3-0 start since the 2005 season.
