Photo by Nic Antaya/Getty Images Handing out grades for the Detroit Lions loss to the Buccaneers, and it’s not all that bad... outside of two main culprits. The Detroit Lions didn’t play terribly against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Sunday. They actually outgained them by a factor of over 2:1, finishing with 463 yards to the Buccaneers’ 216. They averaged a yard more per play (5.6 vs. 4.6) and punted just twice to Tampa’s five. Yet it was the most important people to the Lions’ success that ended up letting them down. Let’s take a look at the entire team's performance with our Week 2 report card. Quarterback: D- Jared Goff threw two interceptions on the day, and while the first one wasn’t his fault, he’s lucky to escape with only two interceptions on the day. It’s very clear that Goff was rattled by some early pressure, and it affected just about everything else he did for the rest of the game. He made bad decisions under duress. His footwork failed him, causing consistently inaccurate passes. And his mental processing seemed rushed, often hurrying to check-downs instead of letting the play develop. Goff’s -13.2 EPA (per NFL Pro), was the fourth worst of the week and his 5.6 yards per attempt were fifth worst. Running backs: B It was Jahmyr Gibbs’ week to be the focal point of the running game, and turning his 13 carries into 83 yards was one of the team’s biggest successes of the week. He looked explosive and dangerous. However, he was often trying to stretch the field horizontally instead of some north/south running. One red zone trip, in particular, he took a quick pass, had all the room up the middle of the field, yet tried to go down the sidelines instead. It was a quieter day for David Montgomery, who had just 35 yards and a touchdown on 11 carries. It’s worth noting that both backs seemed heavily involved in the pass protection game this week, and I thought there was more good than bad. It’s a lot to ask of this backfield, so it certainly wasn’t perfect. Wide receivers: B Goff and Jameson Williams connected on another deep shot, which is certainly promising for the young receiver. In fact, Williams is currently tied for second in the NFL in receiving yards. In addition, Amon-Ra St. Brown was back to his normal self with an 11-catch, 119-yard performance. That said, there were a few times Williams and Goff did not appear to be on the same page, and St. Brown had at least one drop on the day. Additionally, the Lions are still struggling to get a third receiver involved. Tim Patrick and Kalif Raymond combined for just five catches and 39 yards. Tight ends: C- For the second straight week, the Lions failed to get Sam LaPorta heavily involved in the passing game. Based on my initial viewing, it’s hard to say if he isn’t getting open, if he’s not the primary read, or if Goff just isn’t finding him. So I’m not going to necessarily ding this unit too much, since LaPorta only saw three total targets, and Brock Wright didn’t get any. Can’t do anything if the ball isn’t coming their way. I will say, though, that I thought the blocking from this unit was an improvement from last week. Offensive line: B- Detroit didn’t give up a sack, but they did cede 10 quarterback hits on Goff—which is certainly too many and had a drastic impact on the game. Tampa had a blitz rate of 54.2% (second highest of the week), and Detroit didn’t handle it particularly well. That said, there were times in which Goff held the ball too long after very solid pass protection. Additionally, the running game was pretty solid on Sunday. Detroit rushed for 139 yards, 5.1 yards per carry, and had a success rate on the ground of 40.7, good for 14th among all Week 2 games. The game wasn’t up to the Lions’ offensive line’s high standards, but it was still an overall decent performance. Defensive line: A- Aidan Hutchinson was an absolute terror for the Buccaneers, tallying three sacks in the first quarter and 4.5 for the game. Tampa had to adjust their entire protection plan in the second half, constantly using chips from receivers and tight ends, as well as double teams to help their flailing right tackle. Levi Onwuzurike got a piece of a couple of those sacks, though he was only credited with a half-sack. Outside of those two, though, there wasn’t much pressure from the defensive line. Hutchinson’s five quarterback hits were the only ones registered from the entire defense. Still, Detroit was its typical dominant self up the middle when it came to the run game. Bucs running backs combined for just 40 rushing yards on 17 carries (2.35 YPC). Tampa’s rushing success rate of 26.1% was the fourth lowest of the week. Linebackers: B+ The linebacking corps played a big part in Detroit’s success in stopping the run. Jack Campbell had two tackles for loss on the day, while Alex Anzalone remains a stout defender prior to his concussion. Additionally, credit to Derrick Barnes for coming up with a huge pass breakup to give the Lions one more chance to win the game on offense. If there’s any criticism of this unit, it’s that they let Baker Mayfield get free a couple times, including a juke on Malcolm Rodriguez that gives me vicarious knee pain. Secondary: C Let’s start with the bad. Terrion Arnold picked up another couple of penalties and they proved to be big ones. The pass interference call was ticky tacky and seemingly unnecessary contact from Arnold, who was in great position on the play. Unfortunately, the rookie’s issues didn’t stop there. He appeared to have sideline zone on Detroit’s coverage bust that led to a 41-yard touchdown, and he was giving up too much cushion on some short-yardage plays. Carlton Davis wasn’t much better on the opposite end. That said, I think Detroit is getting fantastic play from their safeties right now. Brian Branch now has five pass breakups in two games, and his interception was huge in preventing Tampa from going up two scores before the end of the half. He also led the team with six tackles, proving that he’ll still be a force closer to the line of scrimmage. But, overall, Mayfield still finished with 9.7 yards per pass attempt, which is far too high of a number. Special teams: A Jake Bates remains perfect, which is all you can ask, even if he hasn’t attempted a kick longer than 40 yards. Detroit was able to convert a fake punt, and Jack Fox was also able to pin both of his punts inside the Buccaneers’ 20-yard line, including a key punt late that was pinned at the 9. Tom Kennedy wasn’t great as a kick returner, but he got at or beyond the 30-yard line in two of his three kick returns, so that’s certainly good enough. And Kalif Raymond had some solid punt returns to help Detroit’s field position. I could ding this unit for the too-many-men penalty, but I do not fault them a single bit. Instead, I blame that on... Coaching: F There is absolutely no defense for what happened at the end of the first half. Detroit had plenty of time to go over what they would do if that pass to St. Brown was in bounds. That should have been communicated to the entire team and it clearly was not. Dan Campbell took full responsibility for the mishap, but that was likely a failure on multiple levels, and taking culpability does not mean Campbell is off the hook. The offensive game plan also didn’t seem to make much sense. Detroit came out of the game throwing heavily, which seemed odd considering their relative success running the ball in this game. Goff threw the ball 55 times to just 27 rushing attempts from the team, and that’s a pretty inexcusable imbalance considering they were never down more than a single possession in this game. Additionally, I put much of the blame for Detroit’s red-zone struggles (1-for-7) on the coaching staff. I didn’t see a lot of poor player execution in scoring position, just plays that never seemed to have a chance to work. Detroit has historically been strong in the red zone under Ben Johnson, so there is no long-term worry here. But that doesn’t excuse this one bad performance.