Lions, Bucs recap: Defensive magic, but offensive concerns?

SB Nation

The story of Monday night’s game between the Detroit Lions and Tampa Bay Buccaneers was Detroit’s improbable defensive performance. Missing every starting player in the secondary of their base defense—and

several reserves—the Lions managed to somehow hold Baker Mayfield in check for essentially the entire 60 minutes. Players like Nick Whiteside, Thomas Harper, and Erick Hallett made names for themselves in some of their first NFL action on a national stage.

But the Lions’ defensive performance runs a lot deeper than that. Detroit’s defensive front, with Alim McNeill back in the fold, was giving Mayfield hell all night. Aidan Hutchinson, despite extra attention, is still a menace, and Al-Quadin Muhammad is taking every advantage of the one-on-ones he’s getting.

That only tells half the story from Monday night, though. Despite the defense standing on its head and often giving the offense good field position, it wasn’t the best night from Jared Goff and company. While Jahmyr Gibbs had himself a career night, the rest of the offense looked sluggish and out of tempo. And that isn’t the first time we’ve seen that this season.

So on this week’s PODcast, we cover it all. We share in the celebration of Detroit’s impressive win over the Bucs and their defensive breakout game, but we also address some of the offensive concerns moving forward.

Here’s a bullet point of topics we discuss:

Was that the most impressive defensive performance we’ve seen from the Lions?
Is Detroit’s secondary deeper than we thought?
- More love for Brad Holmes and the personnel department
What should Lions do when healthy at cornerback? Has Amik Robertson earned a full-time role on the outside? Could Terrion Arnold come off the bench?
Kelvin Sheppard love: Has the Lions defense officially surpassed their offense?
Jahmyr Gibbs finally pops off
Offensive struggles: schematic or execution issues?
When are the other wide receivers going to step up?
- Still chemistry issues between Jared Goff and Jameson Williams?
The NFC is STACKED: Where do the Lions stand, and which teams are actually dangerous vs. teams who will eventually slide?
MOVEMBER TEASER!

Catch the full discussion in the Spotify player embedded below or find the podcast by searching “Pride of Detroit” on your favorite podcasting platform. And don’t forget to give us a review!