With week eight of the NFL season basically in the books, these two teams put on abysmal performances yesterday. The Tampa Bay Buccanneers continued to look putrid in yesterday's home loss to the Carolina Panthers, while the Detriot Lions somehow managed to lose to the Pittsburgh Steelers despite their dominating offensive output.
Tampa Bay Buccaneers
The Carolina Panthers struck in the first quarter to take an early lead and then added a field goal to take a 10-0 halftime lead against Tampa Bay. The Buccanneers managed a field goal in the third quarter but the game never seemed close, as their offense struggled.
Carolina scored again in the fourth quarter to put the game away, winning 17-3.
Julius Peppers sacks Jameis Winston, his 151st career sack, moving him into 4th place for the most sacks since stat became official in 1982.
— ESPN Stats & Info (@ESPNStatsInfo) October 29, 2017
The Buccaneers have now lost four games in a row after starting the season 2-1. Next week, they face what seems like a must-win divisional matchup against the surging New Orleans Saints. If Tampa Bay keeps losing, it is fair to wonder how long a struggling Jameis Winston will play as he deals with a sprained AC joint in his throwing shoulder.
Jameis Winston: 2 TO, his 14th game with 2+ TO since entering the NFL in 2015; the only player with more in that span is Blake Bortles (16). pic.twitter.com/W75paaeHkc
— ESPN Stats & Info (@ESPNStatsInfo) October 29, 2017
Detroit Lions
The Detroit Lions had arguably one of the most disappointing offensive performances in Sunday night's loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers.
Detroit managed a 48-yard field goal on their opening drive to match the Steelers and tie the game. They then got an interception but could not capitalize, going three-and-out.
Ben Roethlisberger has thrown 6 interceptions when targeting Antonio Brown, the most of any QB-target duo in the NFL this season
— NFL Research (@NFLResearch) October 30, 2017
The Lions drove down to score first in the second quarter, settling for a 37-yard Matt Prater field goal to take a 6-3 lead.
Pittsburgh then went down and scored on a one-yard Le'Veon Bell touchdown run. Detriot then drove down and made a 51-yard field goal. Pittsburgh then drove down but Bell coughed up the ball at the 23-yard line. The Lions then drove down before halftime and settled for a 34-yard field goal to make it 12-10.
With 2 takeaways in the first half, the Lions defense has more takeaways in seven games (16) than in all of the 2016 season (14) #PITvsDET
— NFL Research (@NFLResearch) October 30, 2017
Matthew Stafford has 206 passing yards at halftime. Only one other QB has thrown for 100+ in the first half vs PIT this season (Dalton, 106)
— NFL Research (@NFLResearch) October 30, 2017
Detriot opened the third quarter going three-and-out and the Steelers drove down and made a field goal to take the lead.
The Lions then drove all the way down to the one-yard line and turned it over on downs. Pittsburgh then scored for the last time on a 97-yard touchdown pass to rookie JuJu Smith-Schuster toward the end of the third quarter.
JuJu Smith-Schuster’s 97-yd rec TD is the longest pass play in Steelers history.
— NFL Research (@NFLResearch) October 30, 2017
Previous record: Mike Wallace 95-yd TD (Wk 7, 2011 at ARI)
The fourth quarter saw the Lions drive down to the one-yard line against and settle for a field goal. They then fumbled at the 26-yard line and turned it over on downs with 2:00 left at the eight-yard line, losing 20-15. Detriot has now dropped 3 of their last four games after starting the season 2-0.
Now, they head into a key divisional matchup next week against the Green Bay Packers.
This is Matthew Stafford’s second career game with 400+ pass yds & 0 pass TDs. No other QB has one such game over the last 20 seasons
— NFL Research (@NFLResearch) October 30, 2017