What Just Happened? Lions vs Buccaneers

They made me care.

That was upsetting thing about the Lions this weekend. I came into the Lions 38-17 loss to the Buccaneers without a care in the world. I knew this game didn’t matter and we all hoped they would lose. But a win feels good and the Lions almost made me fully believe they could pull off a shocking upset after a really bad first quarter. Then they hurt me again.

As always, I have thoughts in this game. These are those thoughts.

Lions enter “screw it” mode

Despite the Lions season being an absolute train wreck since their Monday night loss to the Packers, the Lions still entered every single game with a business-as-usual attitude. By this I mean the Lions wanted to run their plans every week whether they win or lose. They even entered Sunday’s game with that look. They went down 21-3 for their efforts.

In the second half the Lions started changing things up. They started blitzing and they started letting David Blough play like he was in the schoolyard. It worked. The Lions went on a second half run and nearly brought themselves all the way back in the game.

While this didn’t work either, it was fun to see the Lions just go out and do crazy stuff for the entertainment of a fan base that can’t wait for this season to be over.

Did I mention this defense is really bad?

Coming into this game, the Lions defense ranked 29th in the league in yards allowed. They then proceeded to allow a ton of yards. In total they allowed 495 yards and allowed Jameis Winston to be the first quarterback in NFL history to throw for 450 or more yards in consecutive games. Oh, they also allowed 31 points.

Surprisingly the Lions run defense showed up. They held the Bucs to just 49 yards rushing. This—and the Lions other recent performances on run defense lately—has to be a good sign for a defense that looked as leaky as they come for much of the season. This is the one and only thing the 2019 Lions defense needs to bring with them to 2020.

Good for Wes Hills

You love to see stories like this. Hills had a crazy journey to the NFL that involved him working as a security guard and near fatal car crash.

Hills is no superstar. The chance that he would get to play regular season football was slim. The Lions gave him that chance on Sunday and he made the most of it with 21 yards and two touchdowns. Who knows if this guy will be here next week. So this week he should be celebrated a little. Good job Wes. Good for you.

Danny Amendola doesn't give up

I’ve developed a whole new respect for Amendola this season. Here’s a guy that’s used to winning championships, not losing every week. Yet his attitude has not wavered. The guy just keeps going for it on every play. The Lions nearly came back in this game and the spark that Amendola gave the team has a lot to do with it. I certainly didn’t expect Amendola to have the impact he’s had on this team in 2019. I’m happy to have been wrong. Now we’ll see if he comes back for another season.

Tank watch

The only good thing that happened for the Lions on Sunday was a Giants win over the Dolphins. This might help the Lions move up another spot. Sadly the Redskins blew their lead against the Eagles and lost and the Bengals not only blew their early lead, but got absolutely blown out by the New England Patriots. There’s still opportunities for the Lions to get up to as high as the 2nd pick in the draft They’ll need to lose to the Broncos net week while the Dolphins beat the Bengals, and the Giants beat the Redskins.