Week 4 Game Recap: Detroit Lions 13, Tampa Bay Buccaneers 17

What you need to know

Detroit Lions

The Lions were beneficiaries of strong defensive play and turnovers were key to keeping them in the game. All of their points scored in the game came after turnovers. They scored early in the second quarter, after Jared DeVries recovered a Brian Griese fumble. Jason Hanson made the 44 yard field goal. And after a Griese interception, Kevin Jones rushed eight yards in for a touchdown, his first touchdown of the season. Terrence Holt intercepted Brian Griese in the fourth quarter and Hanson subsequently made a 23 yard field goal.

It was not a pretty picture for the Lions’ offense. They were forced to punt on six of their 11 possessions. And only made two first third down conversions. Joey Harrington was unable to maintain any sort of momentum. The only drive that he even looked remotely sharp was the final drive of the game. He made seven completions and passed for 72 of his 137 total yards on that drive. But when the Lions were in the red zone, he threw three straight incompletions ending the game and a chance to win for Detroit. The first pass was to Marcus Pollard, and was originally ruled as a touchdown, but the play was reviewed and overturned as Pollard did not have possession of the ball until he was out of bounds. Mike Williams came down out of bounds on the second end zone target. And the game ended with Harrington overthrowing Roy Williams.

Widely hailed as one of the most talented trio of young receivers, Roy Williams, Charles Rogers, and Mike Williams were more than quiet. They were covered effectively by Tampa Bay forcing Joey Harrington to check down to his other receiving options. Roy Williams led the receivers with three receptions for 54 yards.

The highlight of the game for Kevin Jones was his eight yard touchdown run. He left the game briefly after his first carry and it was reported that he had been poked in the eye. Jones rushed 12 times for 38 yards and was inexplicably replaced for long periods of time by both Shawn Bryson and Artose Pinner who added a combined additional 41 yards to the Lions’ rushing totals.

Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Cadillac Williams suffered a strained hamstring and did not see much playing time at all in the second half of the game. He had only gained nine yards on eight carries at the end of the first half. Michael Pittman was both a threat rushing and receiving. He made a 41 yard touchdown reception and second leading receiver for the Buccaneers with 6 receptions for 96 yards.

It was a career game for Joey Galloway who was Griese’s favorite target. Galloway saw 14 passes thrown his way. He made a beautiful 80 yard touchdown reception; he caught the ball over the middle and outran the Lions. He did leave the game for a short time in the third quarter to be rehydrated after suffering a cramp.

Brian Griese did throw for 302 yards on 22 completions and his two touchdowns. But what kept the Lions in the game were Griese’s turnovers. He was responsible for all of four of the Tampa Bay turnovers, three interceptions and a lost fumble. All three of the Lions’ scores came after the turnovers.

What you ought to know

QB Joey Harrington, Pass: 15 - 27 - 137 - 0 TD / 0 INT, Rush: 4 - 12 - 0

Harrington did not find open receivers and was forced to either check down or attempt to run the ball himself. At the end of the first half, Harrington had only completed five out of eight passing attempts for 45 yards. He finished the game with a total of 137 yards on 15 completions. Harrington looked the best on the Lions’ last drive of the game. From the Lions’ seven yard line, he led them downfield completing seven out of 13 passing attempts for 72 yards. But his last three passing attempts into the end zone to Marcus Pollard, Mike Williams, and Roy Williams were all no good. The pass to Pollard was called as a touchdown, but with a review it was overturned as Pollard did not have possession of the ball in bounds. The throw to Mike Williams should have been a TD if Williams had shown better footwork. And the last pass to Williams was just a prayer that had no chance. This was a bad game for Harrington. If Jeff Garcia were healthy, it was bad enough that the Lions would have probably made a QB change.

RB Kevin Jones, Rush: 12 - 38 - 1 (1 targets)

Jones did not find much room to run at all throughout the game. He gained four yards on the first carry of the game. He left the field after that carry; he had reportedly been poked in the eye. Jones spun to gain four yards in the second quarter. After Griese’s interception, Jones was able to rush eight yards in for a touchdown. Jones was not used much in the second half of the game; he only carried the ball four times for a grand total of nine yards. Amazingly, the Lions said there was nothing physically wrong with him; they were looking to just change things up.

RB Artose Pinner, Rush: 6 - 28 - 0, Rec: 2 - 11 - 0 (2 targets)

In the first quarter, Pinner came in for Kevin Jones for two plays after Jones had been poked in the eye and ran for seven yards and a first down and then made a two yard gain on a lateral catch. He had an eleven yard carry in the third quarter.

RB Shawn Bryson, Rush: 3 - 13 - 0, Rec: 1 - 4 - 0 (4 targets)

Bryson was used sporadically throughout the game. He gained ten yards on a carry near the end of the first quarter. He had a pass go through his hands in the third quarter.

WR Roy Williams, Rec: 3 - 54 - 0 (6 targets)

Williams’ first target went right through his hands. He made his first reception with less than two minutes left in the first half for 34 yards. The pass was underthrown, but Williams was able to adjust to make the catch. Roy Williams made a 14 yard catch right at the sidelines with less than a minute in the game. He was targeted with Harrington’s last pass of the game in the end zone, but was overthrown on a terrible pass. Williams never had a shot at making a play on it.

WR Mike Williams, Rec: 3 - 22 - 0 (4 targets)

Williams made his first reception for two yards in the second quarter. He made his second reception of 11 yards in the fourth quarter to gain a third down conversion. At the end of the quarter, Williams was targeted in the end zone, but was out of bounds when he came down with the reception. It would have been a great catch, but there are lots of receivers in the league who would have shown better footwork and come down with a completion and touchdown there.

WR Kevin Johnson, Rec: 2 - 15 - 0 (5 targets)

Johnson was targeted too high in the first quarter. He was called for offensive pass interference. Johnson made both of his receptions during the Lions’ last drive of the game. His second catch made a first down conversion on fourth down.

WR Charles Rogers, Rec: 1 - 15 - 0 (2 targets)

Rogers saw his first target and catch in the game for 15 yards late in the fourth quarter. He missed a reception that would have been for a third down conversion with less than two minutes left in the game. It was thrown behind him, but he should have been able to make the catch.

TE Marcus Pollard, Rec: 2 - 5 - 0 (4 targets)

Harrington checked down to Pollard when his receiving options were covered. Pollard fumbled the ball late in the second half; Bryan Kelly knocked the ball out of his arms. Harrington overthrew Pollard in the end zone in the fourth quarter. At the end of the fourth quarter, Pollard had a 12 yard touchdown reception call reversed, because the official said that he was out of bounds when he had possession of the ball.

TE Casey Fitzsimmons, Rec: 1 - 11 - 0 (1 targets)

Fitzsimmons saw his only target and reception in the fourth quarter.

PK Jason Hanson 2 - 2 FG, 1 - 1 XP, 7 points

Still suffering from a sore hamstring, Hanson was able to make two field goals of 44 and 23 yards.

DET Rush Defense

Detroit was very effective in shutting down the run. Their stated game plan was to shut down Cadillac Williams and they were very successful in doing so. Williams was held to 9 rushing yards in the first half and a total of 13 yards on the game, though he did not play most of the second half after straining his hamstring. They held Tampa Bay to a total of 69 rushing yards. The Lions sacked Brian Griese twice in a row during Tampa Bay’s first drive of the game, holding the Buccaneers to a field goal. They recorded an additional sack to bring the total to three. Kalimba Edwards forced a fumble from Brian Griese that was recovered by Jared DeVries.

DET Pass Defense

The Lions’ pass defense gave up two passing touchdowns on plays that accounted for 121 of Griese’s 302 passing yards. But strong defensive play was what kept them in the game until the waning minutes of the fourth quarter. Brian Griese was intercepted three times and had a fourth interception negated by a holding penalty.

QB Brian Griese, Pass: 22 - 39 - 302 - 2 TD / 3 INT, Rush: 1 - 7 - 0

It was an up and down day for Brian Griese. He did complete 22 of his 39 passing attempts for 302 yards. He threw a 41 yard touchdown pass to Michael Pittman. And then to open the second half, Griese threw an 80 yard touchdown pass to Joey Galloway who outran the Lions’ defense to score. He keyed in on Joey Galloway targeting him 14 times in the game. A number of Griese’s incompletions were due to his receivers simply dropping the ball or having it go through their hands. But Griese was responsible for all four of the Tampa Bay turnovers that kept the Lions in the game. He fumbled the ball at the beginning of the second quarter. It was the first fumble that the Buccaneers have lost all season. Griese also threw three interceptions. And a fourth was called back because of a holding penalty against the Lions.

RB Cadillac Williams, Rush: 11 - 13 - 0, Rec: 2 - 6 - 0 (3 targets)

The Lions were focused on stopping Williams and they were successful in doing so. He gained 12 yards on his first carry up the middle. But at the end of the first half, he had only nine yards on eight carries. Williams had a pass go through his hands late in the second quarter. He added five rushing yards on two carries in the second half, but was taken out of the game after suffering a strained hamstring.

RB Michael Pittman, Rush: 5 - 30 - 0, Rec: 6 - 96 - 1 (6 targets)

Pittman was busy throughout the game as both a receiver and a rusher. He carried the ball twice during the first quarter, on the first carry he was stopped at the line of scrimmage, but he gained 11 yards on his next carry. He also made a nine yard reception, but it was short of the first down and Tampa Bay was forced to punt. During that same drive he was called for a face mask penalty that resulted in a loss of 15 yards. Pittman scored at the end of the second quarter on a 41 yard reception. Pittman finished the game with 30 rushing yards on five carries and he was the second leading receiver for Tampa Bay with six receptions for 96 yards and his touchdown.

RB Earnest Graham, Rush: 4 - 15 - 0

Graham saw all of his carries in the fourth quarter in relief of Williams and Pittman.

RB Mike Alstott, Rec: 2 - 7 - 0 (4 targets)

Alstott did not have any rushing carries, but he made two receptions for a total of 7 yards on his four targets.

WR Joey Galloway, Rush: 1 - 4 - 0, Rec: 7 - 166 - 1 (14 targets)

It was a career high game for Joey Galloway. He made two receptions to open the game for Tampa Bay and he gained a combined 36 yards. He made a 20 yard reception that helped to set up Michael Pittman’s touchdown. During the first drive of the third quarter, Galloway made an 80 yard touchdown reception, it was thrown over the middle and Galloway simply outran the Lions’ defense to score. After making a 12 yard reception near the end of the third quarter, Galloway suffered a cramp and left the game for a while to get rehydrated.

WR Michael Clayton, Rec: 2 - 11 - 0 (5 targets)

Clayton was targeted in the end zone, but was out of bounds when he made the catch. He made a six yard catch for a third down conversion in the first quarter. Clayton was the target of Griese’s third interception. He did not make another catch until the fourth quarter.

WR Ike Hilliard (2 targets)

Hilliard drew a defensive pass interference penalty for the Buccaneers. He was the target of Griese’s second interception.

TE Anthony Becht, Rec: 2 - 9 - 0 (4 targets)

Becht was targeted during the Buccaneers’ first drive, he was open but he dropped the pass. He had a second target go right through his hands in the second quarter.

TE Alex Smith, Rec: 1 - 7 - 0 (3 targets)

Smith was called for a false start penalty on the Buccaneers’ opening drive. He made a seven yard reception in the second quarter.

PK Matt Bryant 1 - 2 FG, 2 - 2 XP, 5 points

Bryant converted two extra point attempts in the game. He made a 43 yard field goal in the first quarter, but missed a 46 yard field goal attempt in the third quarter.

TB Rush Defense

The Buccaneers held the Lions to a total of 91 rushing yards. Both Ronde Barber and Simeon Rice recorded sacks on Joey Harrington.

TB Pass Defense

Joey Harrington was held to 137 passing yards, 72 of those during the Lions’ last drive of the game. And the Lions’ receivers were held in check throughout the game. Brian Kelly forced a Marcus Pollard fumble that was recovered by Ellis Wyms.