Editor: Joe Bryant. Game Recap Contributors: Mike Anderson, Michael Brown, Chris Burtt, J.D. Caldwell, David Dodds, Bobby Elder, Jim Enochs, Joel Faulhaber, Michael Flynn, Kevin Goldblum, Clayton Gray, Bob Harris, Fred Hebert, Jesse Hilsenrad, Drew Kendall, Jeff Lewis, Joey Matusek, Justin Oliver, Steve Prosapio, David Shick, Cody Smith, Scott Smith, Jeffrey Stout. Tampa Bay 23 at Detroit 20 WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW Tampa Bay Buccaneers: The Lion offensive line handled the Buccaneer defensive line pretty well, and the Buccaneers run defense looked soft as they gave up 143 rushing yards to the Lions RB committee of Aevion Cason, Raphael Cooper, and Cory Schlesinger. The pass defense held the Lions to just 158 passing yards and held the LIon WR's out of the endzone. They also intercepted Lion QB Mike McMahon once while the Lions were driving in Buccaneer territory. Brad Johnson (24/41, 253 yards, no TD's, no INT's) looked OK, but not spectacular. The Lion pass defense played relatively well in this game, covering the Buccaneer receivers well and holding the WR's out of the endzone. The Lion's also put decent pressure on Johnson with their pass rush. The Buccaneer special teams gave up several good returns to Lion rookie returner Eddie Drummond, including a 91 yard kick off return after a Buc TD. The Buccaneer special teams almost lost this game for the Buccaneers, giving the Lions very good field position often in the game. KeyShawn Johnson caught 6 passes for 90 yards, but was held out of the endzone. He seemed to be Johnsons favorite target in the game, and got many looks throughout. The Lion pass defense was very tough in the redzone, and stopped several pass attempts in the endzone. Mike Alstott and Michael Pittman both had 11 carries for 47 and 46 yards respectively and a TD each. Aron Stecker added another 28 yards on 4 carries. Both Alstott and Pittman looked Ok, but neither was particularly impressive in the game. Both TD's were short yardage. Detroit Lions: QB Joey Harrington left the game very early in the game for what turned out to be an irregular heartbeat. He was rushed to the hospital, where it was reported his heart rhythm had returned to normal, btu he was to be held over night for observation. The seriousness of Harrington condition and effects on his role on the team are not known. Mike McMahon replaced him for the remainder of the game. QB Mike McMahon replaced Joey Harrington early in the game and looked pretty good despite passing for just 158 yards and completing 10/21. The Lions played ball control and ran the ball between the tackles very often in the game. When McMahon did pass, he looked pretty good and had several nicely placed passes to his WR's. He also ran in a TD on a naked bootleg. The Lions went with the dreaded runningback-by-committee approach in the absence of James Stewart. Aevion Cason, Raphael Cooper, and Cory Schlesinger all ran the ball very well against one of the best defenses in the league. All had several nice runs, and Cason broke one for 40 yards. Very impressive performance by the Lion RB's and the Lion offensive line. The Lion defense showed some signs of life in this game, holding KeyShawn Johnson and the rest of the Buccaneer receivers out of the endzone. The Lion DT was especially impressive in the redzone, keeping the Buccaneers from scoring a couple TD's and making them settle for FG's instead. Really, a surprisingly good performance from a defense that has been a disappointment all year. The Lion special teams put on a great performance, with rookie Eddie Drummond contributing several big returns including a 91 yard kick return in answer to a Buccaneer TD. Unfortunately Drummond left the game after that return with a concussion. (K) Jason Hanson missed a 57 yard FG attempt that could have sent the game to OT. WHAT YOU OUGHT TO KNOW Tampa Bay Buccaneers QB: Brad Johnson (24/41, 253 yards, no TD's, no INT's), who has been on a hot streak lately, was basically held in check by the Lions often questionable pass defense. While Johnson didn't look bad at all, he was not very effective in the redzone and unspectacular overall. RB: Mike Alstott had 11 carries for 47 yards and a TD, plus another 23 yards on 3 receptions. Alstott was his usual bruising self, rumbling for a 23 yard gain on one play. Alstotts 1 yard TD run also featured a nice seal block by none other than Warren Sapp. Michael Pittman also had 11 carries and gained 46 yards, plus a TD. He showed good speed and some nifty moves on his TD run. Pittman also added 5 receptions for 47 yards for a total of 93 all purpose yards. Neither Pittman nor Alstott were overly spectacular, but both go their job done. Aaron Stecker had 4 carries for 28 yards and 2 receptions for 4 yards. WHile he wasn't a large factor on offense, he did have a nice return on the opening kick-off (67 yards). WR: KeyShawn Johnson was Brad Johnsons favorite target in the game, catching 6 passes for 90 yards. However, Johnson was held out of the endzone as the Buccanners faltered several times in the redzone. Johnson also dropped a 3 & 4 pass from Johnson that would have given them a needed first down. Keenan McCardell had 3 catches for 25 yards, including a very nice 19 yard grab on the sidelines. However, he was not a factor in the game. Joe Jurevicius did not have a reception in the game, and was targeted only twice. TE: Ken Dilger had 3 receptions for 35 yards, two of which came on the same drive (which led to what turned out to be the game winning FG). Besides his three receptions, Dilger did not see many othe looks from Johnson. Ricky Dudley had 3 receptions for 29 yards, but was not a factor in the game. Pass Defense: Held Lions QB Mike McMahon to just 158 yards passing. The secondary seemed to do well enough, but the Lions really did not test them often in this game, preferring to stick with a more ball control oriented running attack. They did let up an 18 yard TD pass from McMahon to WR Bill Schroeder. Rush Defense: Looked surprisingly soft and vulnerable to the Lions running back-by-committee approach in the absence of starting RB James Stewart. The Buccaneer run defense allowed Aevion Cason, Raphael Cooper, and Cory Schlesinger to gain 143 yards combined on the ground. Special Teams: The return squads hurt the Buccaneers in the game, allowing Lion rookie returner Eddie Drummond several long returns, including a 91 yard kick-off return that led to a Lion TD. Martin Grammatica was very accurate, and kicked what turned out to be the game winning FG with 3 min left in the fourth quarter. /**/**/**/**/**/**/**/**/**/**/**/**/**/**/**/**/**/**/**/**/** Detroit Lions QB: QB Joey Harrington left the game early due to what turned out to be an irregular heart beat. He was rushed to the hospital where it was found that his heartbeat had regained rhythm. He was kept overnight for observation. No word as to what the cause of his irregular heartbeat was, nor how this will affect his role as the Lion's starting QB. Back-up QB Mike McMahon replaced Joey Harrington in the game. He ended up going 10/21 for 158 yards, 1 rushing TD, and one INT. McMahon actually looked pretty good in the game, although the Lions basically stuck with a ball control oriented running game. McMahon threw several very nice passes, including an 18 yard TD pass to Bill Schroeder, who one handed the catch. His INT came on a ball that was batted at the line of scrimmage. McMahon's TD came on a naked bootleg form the Buccaneer 2 yard line. RB: The Lions used a running back-by-committee in the absence of starting RB James Stewart. It proved to be pretty successful against a normally stingy Buccaneer defense. Aevion Cason led the committee with 10 rushes for 62 yards and 2 receptions for 38 yards. Cason ran the ball very well, and showed good speed and moves. One of his receptions was a picture perfect 37 yard pass form Mike McMahon on a fly route by Cason. Raphael Cooper had 8 rushes for 50 yards in the game, including a couple nice runs up the middle. He showed surprising strength and broke many tackles. The Lions ran the ball primarily between the tackles... right up Cory Schlesingers alley. Schlesinger showed his usual downhill power, gaining 31 yards on 6 carries and 6 more yards on one reception. The Lions used all three RB's with good results. The three RB's combined for 187 all-purpose yards. However, all three RB's were held out of the endzone. WR: Bill Schroeder was Mike McMahons main target in the game. He caught 4 passes for 96 yards and a TD. Schroeder displayed some good ability on the TD, one handing the catch. He also caught another 46 yard toss from McMahon. Germane Crowell and Scotty Anderson each caught one pass for 7 and 2 yards respectively, and were not factors in the game. TE: Mikhael Ricks had one reception for 9 yards and was not a factor in the game. Pass Defense: The Lions pass defense performed surprisingly well, pressuring Brad Johnson all game, and covering the Buccaneer receivers well enough to prevent them form scoring. The LIon defense was exceptional in the redzone, forcing several FG's in situations that could have easily been TD's. Nice job (for once). Rush Defense: Somewhat soft, allowing TD's to both Mike Alstott and Michael Pittman, though both were short yardage. Special Teams: Outstanding, excepting the opening kick-off. Eddie Drummond had a great day returning the ball, nearly going for a TD on more than one occasion. Drummond suffered a concussion on his 91 yard kickoff return following a Buccaneer TD. Jason Hanson failed to make a 57 yard FG to tie the game with less than 2 minutes remaining.