Lions vs. Buccaneers: What I learned from film study of Detroit’s Week 6 win

My colleague Russell Brown broke it down in very good detail here, but Alex Anzalone deserves as much positive praise as he can for his performance in Week 6.

Simply put, Anzalone played like an All-Pro in this game. His vision and range in coverage outshined the much-hyped Devin White from the Buccaneers in the same game. No. 34 was one of the primary keys for Detroit’s run defense to allow just 46 rushing yards. Other than one run play where he overshot his gap assignment — with some assistance from a great lead block by the TE — Anzalone was in position to terminate every single Tampa Bay carry.

The defensive line and overall scheme nicely adapted to how the Bucs were trying to handle Detroit’s D. Tampa Bay was not going to let Aidan Hutchinson beat them, often devoting two blockers with a third in reserve to No. 97. And he didn’t; Anzalone took charge of being the chief playmaker.

Detroit ran more 4-3 looks in this game than normal, and the line also went away from using a heads-up nose tackle more frequently. Anzalone’s quick reactions and strength at the second level facilitated the strategy; knowing that 34 would stay unblocked with the center and left guard not desiring to fire out and get to him made the need for a nose tackle unnecessary. It was a savvy adjustment from Aaron Glenn for the specific opponent.

Special teams coordinator Dave Fipp has trotted out one of the NFL’s best units over the last two-plus seasons. Sunday was the rare exception.

Other than punter Jack Fox and kicker Riley Patterson, the special teams were not sharp. It began on the very first punt return, a terrible decision by normally great return man Kalif Raymond to field a punt inside the 5-yard line. A missed block ruined any chance for Raymond to get beyond the 20.

That was just the beginning of a poor day for Fipp’s unit. The punt coverage unit got badly fooled by a (fantastic) sell job by Deven Thompkins; Fox’s punt should have been downed around the 8-yard line, but the coverage team lost sight of the ball.

There was a completely unnecessary holding penalty on Ifeatu Melifonwu on another Raymond punt return, one where Chase Lucas–normally an exceptional special teams player–missed badly on his block assignment. Lane integrity on coverage units was the worst all season. Even the final Patterson field goal was very nearly blocked, thanks in part to what looked like complacent blocking.

Patterson did miss a field goal from 52 yards. That’s the very edge of his range, and it was encouraging that he didn’t come up short.

Two reserve linebackers did perform well: Malcolm Rodriguez in coverage and Jalen Reeves-Maybin, who very nearly blocked a punt and also threw a nice block on another punt return.

It might not have been his greatest statistical game in Detroit, but this was one of the best outings of Jared Goff’s three years in a Lions uniform. Goff was in absolute control of the game and Ben Johnson’s offense.

Goff was worthy of special focus on the rewatch. It was like watching a maestro conducting a well-tuned orchestra, even one missing some key instruments. No cellos? Fine, we’ll just emphasize the tuba and contrabassoon more to deepen the bass. That’s exactly how it felt watching Goff in Tampa Bay.

One underrated key to Goff’s performance was how quickly he recognized imminent disaster and avoided it. There were three instances where the Bucs called exactly the perfect defense to counter what the Lions offense had dialed up, a la the old Tecmo Bowl. Goff smartly bailed on the plays, living for another snap instead of risking the biscuit. The slim chance for glory wasn’t worth it, and Goff knew it.

The accuracy on his throws wasn’t accurately reflected in the 30-for-44 passing line. Goff was sharp and aggressive without being reckless — precisely the key to beating a good defense like the Buccaneers, who thrive on creating takeaways and forcing mistakes. With no run game to support him, Goff took over and confidently bore the weight of the entire offense. That’s an MVP candidate proving why he merits more attention in that conversation.

—The second watch validated the early take that the Lions wanted Baker Mayfield to throw the ball deep. Kerby Joseph in particular was loose in allowing receivers to get deep releases. Aaron Glenn gambled that Mayfield and his receivers couldn’t connect (and it was on both parties) and he was right to do so.

—Craig Reynolds’ block was even better on All-22. Watched it probably 15 times and still got fired up every time.

–Sam LaPorta struggled against a great cover LB in Lavonte David. One reason was that the Lions used him on deeper routes more often than normal. David is the rare LB with the speed and acumen to run with him. It had a purpose, pulling David away from helping on Amon-Ra St. Brown. No. 14 got a lot more room with Ryan Neal and Devin White being the help coverage, and Goff/St. Brown exploited it.

–Detroit’s run defense was helped by Bucs RB Rachaad White stopping his feet after getting the handoff on almost every attempt. Lions fans might recall Dwayne Washington doing the same. It’s painful to watch, even from an opposing viewpoint.

–Rookie Jack Campbell continues to struggle in making decisive reads. He did make a couple of very nice plays, notably shedding a downfield block and slamming the door shut on a likely third-down conversion. Campbell looks like a rookie, not a bad player. And there is a difference…

–Run blocking was not good from Detroit, and a lot of that was because of the too-complicated design from Ben Johnson. Sometimes you need to punch the guy lined up in front of you in the mouth, instead of running two gaps down to try and cut off a too-quick defensive lineman who has already made contact with the runner. Especially true of RG Graham Glasgow, who struggled badly to find targets in space in this one. Way too many runs ended with Glasgow nowhere near any Bucs defenders, and it looked like that was more by design of the blocking than any failure from Glasgow.

–I thought this was Jerry Jacobs’ best all-around game of the year, notably in coverage. Bucs receivers lack lateral quickness, which gives Jacobs some trouble. Felt like he anticipated breaks and understood the offensive concepts very well. Fared very well against Mike Evans.

–The Bucs offensive line was better than advertised. I think we all knew Tristan Wirfs would be very good. Props to Luke Goedeke at right tackle for tying up Aidan Hutchinson, often with a lot of help. He matched Hutchinson’s tenacity and that doesn’t happen often.

–Dan Skipper as a tackle-eligible played well. One rep felt like a set-up for something down the line from Ben Johnson too, like he was field-testing an idea for later. Stay tuned…