Team Grades: Lions Continue Offensive Resurgence Against Bucs
By Chris Morgan
After an extended break post-Thanksgiving to prepare for their home game against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Reggie Bush returned to action, and with the Lions as healthy as they have been in a while, and with a lowly team visiting, a win seemed likely for Detroit. While it was probably a bit closer than it should have been, Detroit still handled their business to win the game. The Lions bested the Bucs by a score of 34-17, thanks to another nice day from Detroit's offense, which is undergoing a resurgence, albeit against bad defenses. Here are the grades for the Lions in this victory.
Offense: In truth, the Buccaneers defense is probably more mediocre than terrible, and they have been a bit better recently, although their opponents haven't exactly been good. Regardless, the Lions should be encouraged with their offensive performance. They had 407 yards of total offense, most of that coming through the air. Reggie Bush was fairly limited in his return, but Joique Bell had a big game, rushing 18 times for 83 yards and a touchdown, while also catching five passes for 50 yards and a score.
Calvin Johnson had a huge game for the second week in a row, catching eight passes for 158 yards and a touchdown. Joseph Fauria also added a score. The only real concern was that the Lions gave up four sacks, but overall it was probably an even stronger performance than against the Bears. Grade: A-
Quarterback: Hey, remember when Matthew Stafford was struggling and was looking like a problem for this team? That's feeling like a bygone era after his play in Detroit's last two games. Stafford went 26-for-34 for 311 yards and three touchdowns with no turnovers in this game. You can't quibble with those numbers. Sure, the opponents haven't been that tough, but Detroit's next two games are against Minnesota and Chicago, so it's not going to get much more difficult. Grade: B+
Special Teams: Matt Prater continued to be a steadying presence at kicker for this team, making both of his field goals and all four of his extra points. Sam Martin did a fine job, and Jeremy Ross did well with his kick returns. Not a lot was asked of special teams, but they did their job. Grade: B
Defense: The Tampa Bay Buccaneers have a terrible offense, so it would have been nice to see the Lions perhaps do a bit better against them in terms of preventing them from scoring. Still, 17 points isn't a lot, and they did only finish with 233 yards of total offense. The running game did nothing, averaging less than two yards per carry, but Tampa's two top receivers, Vincent Jackson and Mike Evans, did have good days.
They were the only ones, though. The Lions picked up four turnovers, two interceptions and two fumble recoveries, and they were in Tampa's backfield all day. They sacked Josh McCown a whopping six times, DeAndre Levy picked up two, and they also had 10 tackles for loss and a staggering 14 quarterback hits. If they had done this against a better offense, it would have been an amazing performance. Since it's the Buccaneers, however, it's merely very good. Grade: A-
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Chris Morgan has been a diehard Detroit Lions fan through the good (Barry Sanders) and the bad (Matt Millen) and that love has led him to take jobs writing about sports, including as a fantasy sports "expert." His work can be found on Examiner.com. .