Interior OL was a problem
It started on the very first play, a Goff INT that was an absolutely missed defensive pass interference call. Both C Frank Ragnow and LG Graham Glasgow got pushed back into Goff’s pocket; nose tackle Vita Vea swam across Ragnow and grazed Goff’s left side right after he threw.
Ragnow had a very rough game for an All-Pro. Even after Vea departed with an injury, Ragnow lost some pass protection reps to Greg Gaines. It looked like Ragnow’s second step was consistently slow in this one, and that was trouble against the quickness of the Bucs front.
Glasgow continues to struggle adapting at his new left guard spot. He’s a more natural right guard. He also continues to struggle actually engaging defenders in space or on reach blocks. On the Lions’ third offensive possession, the first play is a designed quick swing to Gibbs to the left. Glasgow is responsible for picking off the defender to get Gibbs space, but he’s late to his block and Gibbs get blown up as soon as he catches the ball. If Glasgow gets his block here, the rest of the play design and execution had a potential big play.
Pass rush scheme from the defense was outstanding
Aidan Hutchinson nearly won this game by himself. No. 97 put on an amazing, diverse display of skills on his way to four sacks and (by my count) 16 pass-rush wins in 25 pass-rush attempts. But he wasn’t alone out there, and the combination of DC Aaron Glenn and DL coach Terrell Williams schemed up some very nice rushes aside from Hutchinson being amazing.
Take Hutchinson’s second sack. Thanks to an expertly timed A-gap blitz by LB Malcolm Rodriguez that drew the left guard’s attention, Levi Onwuzurike had an unblocked run at Baker Mayfield. Hutchinson blasted past the right tackle with a simple two-handed shove and beat Onwuzurike by a half-step to the QB. The Buccaneers wound up having four blockers on Alim McNeill and Rodriguez, with LB Alex Anzalone at the ready should Mayfield somehow escape from Onwuzurike even if Hutchinson isn’t there. This is what Lions fans crave more of from Glenn.
The Bucs D knew what was coming often
Sometimes the other team deserves credit. Bucs coach Todd Bowles is a widely respected defensive mind, and he had his team ready for a familiar opponent. The Bucs often knew what was coming from tendencies and familiarity with playing the Lions for the third time in a 12-month period.
There were many examples. Here are two:
Lions second offensive possession, the play after the Bucs were guilty of roughing the passer, setting up 1st down from the 10. Shotgun, Jahmyr Gibbs to Goff’s left. Tight end Brock Wright motions out to the left from inline next to LT Taylor Decker. Bucs LB K.J. Britt and EDGE Joe Tryon-Shoyinka immediately realize it’s a screen pass to Gibbs to the right as soon as Gibbs makes his first step in that direction.
Goff chooses to turf it at Gibbs’ feet (probably should have let Gibbs catch it and try to break a tackle), bereft of other options because RT Penei Sewell is already beyond the 5-yard line–making him illegally downfield for any pass not thrown behind the line of scrimmage. As soon as Sewell pulled into space, the entire Bucs defensive front swarmed toward Gibbs.
The other one came on the drive where the Lions successfully executed a brilliant fake punt. Goff got away with what should have been an interception, but it was created by the Bucs knowing that Goff likes to throw to where the pressure came from. A blitz forced Gibbs to stay in pass protection, a smart way for the defense to dictate and take away an option. They rolled their coverage to that side, over/under bracketing St. Brown. Goff does get some pressure from the back side and throws a duck that should have been picked off by safety Jordan Whitehead. Against a lot of defenses, that safety isn’t there because he’s chasing the inside receiver (Tim Patrick in this case). The Bucs either knew–or gambled correctly–that Goff only had eyes for St. Brown to that side on that play.
Goff and timing
The Lions offense is at its best when Goff is hitting receivers in stride with accuracy, when the “where” and “when” the ball needs to be there are both in sync. This was a game-long struggle for Goff, and it’s largely on the quarterback himself.
There were a few times where Goff was early, notably in the red zone. He missed Jameson Williams twice because Goff felt pressured enough to not wait for the route to develop, regardless of if Jamo was actually open (or getting open).
The Bucs defense does deserve some credit here, specifically the Tampa Bay LBs. They were very good at getting quick depth to their drops, and they ran right with their coverage marks quite well. Even a half-count delay in the throw because Goff doesn’t immediately like the angle of coverage really throws off the synchronization and precisely designed spacing and timing of the play.
It’s the difference between St. Brown catching the ball while moving, as he did on his first two catches of the game, and being stationary and a sitting duck for big hits, as was the case on nearly all his other catches. The same was true for Gibbs on six of his seven catches; he’s stationary or in the process of stopping because the ball isn’t where it needs to be when it is designed to be there, and it eliminates easy YAC. That’s on Goff more than it’s on Ben Johnson or the receivers, and it’s a throwback to the issues he had at the end of his Rams tenure. He’s been a lot better than that for nearly all of the last two seasons, and that precise, timely Goff needs to reemerge quickly.
Man vs. zone coverage on D
The Lions pass defense behind the pass rush also had a pretty solid game. Nearly everything the Buccaneers attained in the passing game came against zone coverage and not man coverage, too.
Even on a play against straight man that wound up producing for the Bucs, the Lions defended it very well. A Baker Mayfield improvised rollout to his right saw him hit Chris Godwin on the dead run with CB Carlton Davis in excellent position. Davis was in great position and instantly terminated the play, which required both Mayfield and Godwin to be at their best on it. And they were; good players make plays. Davis covered Godwin for over five seconds on the play, and the rest of the field revealed nobody getting open.
Zone coverage is a much inferior story. With all new corners all playing together for just the second time, and with LBs shuffling in and out of the rotation, the coordination between zone responsibilities is still rough.
The Mayfield-to-Godwin touchdown pass is a great example. Amik Robertson as the outside CB stays with his shallow outside responsibility (nicely held by Mayfield’s initial look too). Godwin breaks across the zone right-to-left. Jack Campbell isn’t deep enough or far enough outside. Kerby Joseph is too deep but had to be because of the route progressions and initial alignment. Terrion Arnold is too far inside bracketing Mike Evans with Joseph and almost appears to be playing man. Alex Anzalone appears too focused on any potential Mayfield run. It’s tough to blame any one player there (PFF hung it on Arnold) because none of them played it correctly.
That’s more about inexperience playing together than talent. The lack of cohesion and savvy shows. It doesn’t help that the Buccaneers have two excellent wideouts and a pretty effective supporting cast around them, with a QB in Mayfield who isn’t afraid.
The issue that arose in moving to more zone from man is that Mayfield had some early success running against man. Nobody was open, No. 6 took off as his second read, and it worked. Zone helps curb that, but at the expense of not being able to cover nearly as well. It’s a conundrum that Glenn has to shore up quickly with Kyler Murray and the Cardinals in Week 3.
Quick hits
–The Brian Branch INT came with him playing the shallow robber role, with Kerby Joseph as a single-high and the CBs in man coverage. Mayfield clearly didn’t expect him to have that kind of quick range and also not take the cheese on the crosser. Great play that not many are going to make. That’s exactly why the Lions moved Branch to safety.
–Special teams coordinator Dave Fipp is apparently content with giving the touchback on the new kickoff. The Bucs didn’t return a kickoff.
–Jack Fox had a net of 33.5 yards per punt, but both of his punts were downed inside the 20 — one at the 9 and one at the 13. That’s a pretty darn good job by Fox despite what the numbers might look like. Punt coverage unit was on-point.
–Sam LaPorta did not have a good game blocking, especially in the red zone.
–Alex Anzalone suffered his concussion on Mayfield’s late TD run when he and Derrick Barnes collided just behind Mayfield crossing the goal line.
–WR Tim Patrick moved like a tight end, but he got open and blocked well in his first Lions game. He’s not at all quick, but he understands how to use his size. He earned more reps going forward in my eyes.
–The Terrion Arnold pass interference penalty looks weaker every time I watch it. Rookie had a very impressive game in man coverage overall. Zone, alas, is going to be a work in progress.
–Goff attempted one throw into the end zone on the Lions’ final 19 red zone plays, an essential throwaway to a double-covered Williams. More than half didn’t have a viable receiving target in the end zone. That’s on Ben Johnson, not Goff.
–The costly end-of-first-half snafu was a byproduct of this. The yards gained on a checkdown to St. Brown were pointless, and there was only one of four receivers who crossed the goal line in a route on that play. When the clock is as big of an enemy as the defense, that’s a wasted down and precious seconds.
–Also on Johnson: the choices to run laterally. The Bucs are a speed-based defense, especially after Vea went out. Having runs that are designed to go east-west before they go north-south is a massive tactical error. Not one of them worked except Gibbs’ final run.