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The Detroit Lions lost to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers by a score of 24-21 on Sunday. Here are my three main takeaways from the game:
The secondary is a hot mess
This point goes without saying by now, but Mike Glennon carved up the Lions pass defense on Sunday. He went 14 for 21 for 247 yards and 2 touchdowns. What's more, Tiquan Underwood had 3 catches for 108 yards and 2 touchdowns. These are not superstars by any means, yet they had their way with the secondary. Chris Houston, Rashean Mathis, Darius Slay, Don Carey -- it just doesn't matter who plays cornerback. The Lions don't have any good ones on their roster, and as a whole, the secondary is one of the worst in all of the NFL when it comes to defending the pass.
Matthew Stafford and Calvin Johnson have to be better
Matthew Stafford finished with 297 yards and 3 touchdowns, but he also had 4 interceptions. Granted, not all of those picks were his fault, but he needs to be smarter in certain situations and stop missing so many open receivers. He's being paid to be a great quarterback, but he hasn't been able to consistently play at that kind of a level.
Calvin Johnson, meanwhile, has had some bad drops and fumbles this season. On Sunday, he dropped a ball right to a Bucs defender for the game-deciding interception. He had a solid day overall with 7 catches for 115 yards, and it's clear he's the best receiver in the NFL. However, he can't let these little mistakes happen and cost the Lions in key moments.
It's nice to have Ziggy Ansah back
How about a positive from Sunday's game? Ziggy Ansah returned from missing some time with an injury and had 2 sacks. The Lions had 4 sacks as a team and hit Glennon 6 times. It was nice to see the Lions actually generate some pressure from the defensive end position (Willie Young also had a sack), and Ansah had a lot to do with that. (Side note: The run defense, which limited Bobby Rainey to only 35 yards on 18 carries, continued to be amazing.)