Jared Goff needs to be better, Lions brutal mistakes cost them in 20-16 loss to Buccaneers
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers got their revenge, and they did it by holding the high-powered Detroit Lions offense in check.
The Lions scored one touchdown on six trips inside the Tampa red zone Sunday, falling to the Buccaneers, 20-16, at Ford Field. The Lions beat the Bucs twice last season, including in the divisional round of the playoffs.
On Sunday, Tampa quarterback Baker Mayfield outplayed Lions quarterback Jared Goff.
Mayfield completed 12 of 19 passes for 185 yards and one touchdown, and scored the go-ahead TD on a designed 11-yard quarterback draw with 34 seconds left in the third quarter.
Goff was 34 of 55 for 307 yards with two interceptions. He threw short of the sticks on a fourth-and-8 play with just over a minute left, when the Bucs forced a turnover on downs, then ended the game with four straight incompletions (the first being a spike to kill the clock).
Lions kicker Jake Bates went 3-for-3 on field goals, but the Lions' end-of-half miscue cost themselves a field goal attempt, and ultimately was a huge factor in the loss. Lions coach Dan Campbell took the blame for the mix-up in his interview before the second half.
The Lions drop to 1-1 after two home games and hit the road next week at the Arizona Cardinals. The Bucs are 2-0.
Three more thoughts on the Lions’ loss to Tampa on Sunday.
INSIDER: Aidan Hutchinson has good shot at breaking NFL's single-season record
Aidan Hutchinson dominates
Justin Skule is going to have nightmares about Aidan Hutchinson.
Hutchinson had 4½ sacks and a forced fumble Sunday, finishing one sack shy of the Lions’ single-game record.
Hutchinson had a sack on each of Tampa’s first three offensive possessions Sunday, making the most of his matchup with Tampa’s backup right tackle after Luke Goedeke entered concussion protocol mid-week. He got his first sack off an inside stunt with Alim McNeill, then beat Skule twice with one-on-one moves.
Hutchinson, who added another 1½ sacks in the second half, looked great this summer and he has four 5½ after two games. That puts him on pace for 46.8 for the season. He won’t get that, of course, but if he keeps facing backup linemen he might threaten the NFL record of 22½ sacks.
Jared Goff needs to be better
Goff needs to play better for than he did Sunday if the Lions are going to make the run for the Super Bowl most think they’re capable of.
Goff’s first pick came on a missed pass interference penalty and wasn’t his fault. His second came on an ill-advised throw over the middle when he had pressure in his face. And Goff could have easily thrown two more interceptions and been called for an intentional grounding penalty Sunday.
The Lions paid Goff a lot of money this offseason – money Goff earned with his strong play last year in leading the team to the NFC championship game. But with that money comes heightened expectations, and the Lions need their quarterback to be more consistent with his passing and take better care of the ball.
This is a quarterback league, and while no one expects Goff to be Patrick Mahomes, he can’t have games like Sunday or the Lions will suffer more of the same results.
Detroit Lions clock killer mistake
The Lions got burned by a game management error at the end of Sunday’s first half, when Goff completed a short pass to Amon-Ra St. Brown with 11 seconds left and was trying to spike the ball as the Lions’ field-goal team started running onto the field.
The Lions were out of timeouts, so the penalty included a 10-second run off that ended the half and sent the Lions to locker room without points and trailing, 13-6.
TRENDING: Dan Campbell takes blame for Lions mix-up vs. Bucs: 'Totally screwed my team'
That series came back to bite the Lions late in the game, when they twice had to go for it on fourth down inside field goal range.
That was an uncharacteristic mistake by a Lions team that’s usually well-coached, but it’s a big part of the reason the team is 1-1 today.
Dave Birkett is the author of the new book, "Detroit Lions: An Illustrated Timeline." Preorder it now from Reedy Press.
Contact him at dbirkett@freepress.com. Follow him on X and Instagram at @davebirkett.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Lions vs Bucs game: Detroit miscues lead to gut-wrenching loss
