Bucs RB Rachaad White – Photo by: USA Today Rachaad White was featured on offense early and often. On the first drive, he led things off with a check-down catch for eight yards. He then followed that up with a 16-yard run to the Bucs’ 44. On their second drive, he had an eight-yard run that helped kick start a 50-yard scoring drive that ended with a field goal. White’s biggest play came in the second half when he hauled in a screen pass against a Lions blitz on 3rd & 10 and slid his way up field 12 yards for a touchdown to tie the game at 17. White was a big part of the offense throughout the game with one of his most efficient rushing games of the season (nine carries, 55 yards, 6.1 yards per carry) while adding four catches for 36 yards and the aforementioned touchdown. Throughout most of the game when Tampa Bay needed tough yards, White was able to battle through an ankle injury to provide them. Bucs Offensive Line Many won’t understand this. How could the Bucs offensive line make “Most Impressive” when quarterback Baker Mayfield was sacked four times on the day? Here’s the thing: All but one of Mayfield’s sacks came on free rushers. The Lions dialed up several blitzes that schemed a free man who the quarterback has to account for either pre-snap with a check or post-snap with a hot route. The linemen did their jobs throughout the game, winning one-on-one against the Lions pass rush. They also had one of their best games of the season run blocking, helping Rachaad White and Chase Edmonds rack up 74 yards on just 13 carries for a yards-per-carry average of 5.7. Left tackle Tristan Wirfs erased any edge rusher working his side and right tackle Luke Goedeke held star defensive end Aidan Hutchinson in check all game. Hutchinson did record a sack as an unblocked rusher, and many might say it was Goedeke’s fault for leaving him unblocked. But here are how the rules of the offensive line play out on the blitz that sprung Hutch. Initially rushed 6-men from odd front w/ droppers. Bucs in 5-man protection. Backside=“squeeze” meaning the tackle /guard responsible for two most dangerous rushers of three. They account for for A/B gaps 1st. Eliminate closest pressure to QB. Let furthest rusher free. https://t.co/Zt17SGrfhe — Coach Joe Moorhead (@BallCoachJoeMo) January 21, 2024 DT Calijah Kancey 
Bucs DT Calijah Kancey and Lions QB Jared Goff – Photo by: USA Today Kancey was a force throughout the game. It started early with a tipped pass on third down to end the Lions’ first drive. It continued with multiple pressures in the first half, culminating with a sack of quarterback Jared Goff on 3rd & 1 inside of the two-minute warning in the first half. For large swaths of the game, Kancey WAS the Bucs pass rush. On the biggest stage, Kancey was the brightest star on the Bucs defensive line. The future is bright for the young pass rusher, who finished the game with two tackles, one quarterback hit, one sack, one tackle for loss and a pass defensed. At times throughout the game, Kancey was a game wrecker. His sack of Goff was a thing of beauty as he exploded off the line of scrimmage, swatted Lions’ right guard Graham Glasgow’s punch away and sped past him to get to Goff before Goff knew what hit him (it was Kancey who hit him). LB K.J. Britt Britt was an integral part of the Bucs run defense early in the game as he racked up tackle after tackle in the middle of the field. His stop at the goal line following a Bucs turnover was crucial in holding the Lions to just a field goal and keeping the Bucs in the game. In the first half, Lions running backs combined for just 26 yards on seven carries in large part due to Britt’s excellent play as a run defender in the middle of the Bucs defense. He finished the game with 12 total tackles. WR Mike Evans (From the 2-minute Warning in the 1st Half On) 
Bucs WR Mike Evans – Photo by: USA Today Early in the game, Evans dropped two easily catchable balls. One bounced off of his hands leading to a C.J. Gardner-Johnson interception that set up the Lions first score of the game. But during the Bucs two-minute drive at the end of the first half, Evans came up HUGE with two catches that accounted for 56 of the Bucs’ 92 yards on the drive. Evans was able to secure the first catch after beating a jam at the line of scrimmage and racing up field on a deep fade for a catch and run of 27 yards to the Detroit 31-yard line. On the very next play, he was once again able to get vertical and haul in a breadbasket pass as he slid to the ground at the Lions 2-yard line. Those two catches would set up a Cade Otton touchdown grab on the next play to send the Bucs into halftime with a 10-10 tie. In the second half, Evans continued to add to a total that stood at eight catches for 147 yards with more big-time catches, including a 16-yard touchdown grab late in the game that brought Tampa Bay to within a single score and kept the Bucs’ hopes of winning alive. It was a fitting performance for the best offensive player in franchise history in what could possibly be his final game in a Bucs uniform. TE Cade Otton Like Evans, Otton dropped two balls he should have caught in a game plan that once again featured a heavy dose of him. But when it was all said and done, Otton was a producer for the Bucs offense. He caught five of his eight targets for 65 yards, including a 2-yard score on a beautiful pick play that got him open clean in the back left corner of the end zone. The Bucs struggled to find a competent, consistent third option throughout the early portions of the season. Otton became that player down the stretch for them. LB Lavonte David 
Bucs LBs Lavonte David and KJ Britt and SS Ryan Neal and Lions RB David Montgomery – Photo by: USA Today David had yet another stellar game. At 33 years old, he can still instinctually understand how offenses want to attack and flow to the play before he should reasonably be at a spot. This helped him rack up 13 tackles and a sack on the day. David almost single-handedly willed the Bucs back into the game late. With the Bucs trailing 24-17 and 10 minutes and change left in the game, David stood up Detroit running back David Montgomery in the hole at the line of scrimmage on first and 10 at the Detroit 49. On the following play, he sacked Goff for a six-yard loss to set up 3rd & 15. David would be let down on the ensuing play by teammate Zyon McCollum, who was unable to stop Amon-Ra St. Brown from picking up a first down. The Lions would go on to score a touchdown and take a two-touchdown lead that the Bucs would not be able to overcome. But David didn’t stop just because the Bucs were down. After Tampa Bay’s offense scored a touchdown to bring the game back to within a score, he had a huge tackle after a Montgomery catch that created a four-yard loss and forced Detroit into a 3rd & 11. The play helped get the ball back for the Bucs’ offense to make one last attempt to tie the game and force overtime. David looked like one of the most athletic players on the field in his 17th game of his 12th season. And I, for one, hope that he decides to play his 13th next year. CB Jamel Dean 
Bucs CB Jamel Dean – Photo by: USA Today His dropped interception in the end zone loomed large throughout most of the game, but keep in mind if not for Dean’s perfect coverage on that play, the Lions likely would have converted a Bucs turnover into seven points. Instead, Dean helped the defense hold the Lions offense with a short field to just three points on that second drive. Dean was great in coverage for most of the game and a strong contributor as a run defender, as has become his motus operandi for much of his career. With five tackles and three passes defensed, he was one of the best defenders on either side of the field. Dean’s presence was most felt after he suffered an injury that knocked him out of the game. The Bucs had to move McCollum into his spot and the Lions immediately started picking on the young cornerback. This led to multiple completions for the Lions offense on a drive that put the game away for them. The post Bucs at Lions: Most Impressive In 2024 NFC Divisional Round appeared first on Pewter Report. https://www.pewterreport.com/bucs-lions ... ivisional/
