Lon Horwedel-Imagn Images In the Lions’ Week 2 loss to the Buccaneers, there were a few winners and losers for Detroit. Here’s who made the list. After starting the year with a big win on “Sunday Night Football” over the Los Angeles Rams, the Detroit Lions wanted to begin the year with a winning streak as they looked to knock off the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Another playoff opponent in Tampa Bay, the Bucs came in banged up against the Lions, missing three starters on defense—including Antoine Winfield Jr.—so the Lions focused on attacking the secondary heavily. The Lions' defense was great at getting to the Bucs' quarterback Baker Mayfield, sacking him five times and wreaking havoc on the line. In the end, though, it didn’t matter as the Bucs offense was still able to score more than the Lions, winning 20-16. Check out my winners and losers in the loss against the Bucs. Winners Aidan Hutchinson A big year three is incoming for defensive end Aidan Hutchinson after a great start to the season. Against the Rams, Hutchinson got a sack, despite the Rams being quick to get the ball out. But against the Bucs, it was one of the best games he has ever had. Hutchinson finished with five tackles, 4.5 sacks, and four tackles for loss. In his last four regular season games, @Lions DL @aidanhutch97 has produced 9.0 sacks.This marks the most sacks a player has logged in any four-game span in franchise history. #OnePride pic.twitter.com/HgibKXWHCl— Detroit Lions PR (@LionsPR) September 15, 2024 Going up against a backup offensive tackle again, Hutchinson took advantage of it and part of the reason for his big game was due to Mayfield holding onto the ball for too long. Hutch overcame one-on-one matchups, chips from tight ends and running backs, and even double teams to get to Mayfield. Hutchinson is playing great to start the season, and I wouldn’t say it’s crazy to have him in the Defensive Player of the Year conversation come December and January. His sacks had a big impact on the game, as they helped the Lions hold the Bucs to two field goal attempts in what could have been a bigger loss for the team. Run Defense While the Lions were able to sack Mayfield multiple times, another part that helped the Lions' defense was the strength of their run defense. The Bucs were forced to air it out against the Detroit secondary as Tampa Bay couldn’t find success on the ground. The Bucs were held to 71 yards on 22 carries and a touchdown, as they couldn’t find their footing all afternoon. The Lion's run defense was the second-best unit in the NFL last season, and it continues to be effective to start the season as now the Rams and the Bucs couldn’t manage to move the ball at all when it came to the rushing attack. The only way the Bucs were moving the ball on the ground was behind Mayfield, who led the team in rushing yards with 35 on four carries—and was the only one to score on the ground. The Lions continue to struggle with scrambling quarterbacks, but when it comes to stopping the running backs between the tackles, Detroit is ready for them. Amon-Ra St. Brown In what could have been considered the worst game of his career last week, wide receiver Amon-Ra St. Brown emerged for the Lions offense this week, leading the team in catches and yards with 11 for 119 yards. He took advantage of the banged-up Bucs secondary and made them pay. You could tell he wanted to have a bigger impact on the game and it became a focus this week to get him involved with Tampa Bay coming in not at full strength. St. Brown also showed his toughness as he was banged up throughout the game and was seen on the sidelines with trainers multiple times—including the final drive of the game. He helped the offense as best as he could, gave it his all, and left it on the field. Unfortunately, it wasn’t enough to win the game this week and hopefully next week, he won’t deal with those issues. Losers Coaching For the first time in a long time, I can say that the Lions coaching staff played a big part in the loss. The offensive play calling by Johnson wasn’t good, as some plays left me scratching my head wondering what was happening. Defensive coordinator Aaron Glenn was mostly fine on his side of the ball, outside of limiting the plays by Mayfield with his legs. Then there is the big one in head coach Dan Campbell. He admitted blame for the field goal unit running on the field before the half, as a flag for too many men on the field resulted in a 10-second runoff, eliminating the Lions’ chances at getting a field goal before half to make it a one-point game. If the unit stays on the sidelines, the Lions kick it and in the fourth quarter, run the ball and kick the game-winning field goal. The players did all they could, and they certainly could have done better too, but when your coaches put you in those rough positions, it makes it harder to win those types of games. It was a sloppy game all around, and the coaches must work on their stuff or else things could turn upside down quickly. Red Zone Offense The offense for Detroit got some big plays from Williams and St. Brown, but the big plays couldn’t turn into any touchdowns. The Lions moved the ball with some success on the Bucs’ defense, but once they had 20 yards or less to go, the job became too difficult. The team was in the red zone seven times and only scored one touchdown. The issues were similar against the Rams, so this isn’t a new issue for this team to start the year. It’s still early in the season with plenty of time to clean it up, but this game showed it has a huge impact on how the game finished. If Detroit scored touchdowns on at least one of those six failed attempts, the Lions win. Jared Goff Not what you want to see to start the season after extending your franchise quarterback. Goff had some issues against the Rams, and against the Bucs, the problems were still there. Goff finished the game going 34-for-55 for 307 yards and two interceptions. The first interception shouldn’t have been one at all, as it was the missed defensive pass interference call against Jameson Williams that, if called correctly, gets wiped away. The second interception by Goff was completely on him, as he threw the ball to nobody but a Bucs secondary member all by himself. Goff had some throws that were questionable besides the interceptions, as his decision-making was not at its best. He almost threw two more interceptions to covered receivers and luckily, Tampa Bay defenders couldn’t hold on. He just seemed lost and not confident in himself. The Bucs were bringing pressure, and I think that forced some of the poor decisions by Goff. He never got sacked, but it felt that when pressured, he panicked, threw the ball, and hoped for the best. It’s tough to beat two playoff teams back to back, but when your quarterback isn’t at his best, it’s even tougher.