Campbell and Goff get bad grades

Dave Birkett evaluates the Detroit Lions’ performance after their 20-16 loss to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Sunday at Ford Field.

quarterback

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Jared Goff’s day got off to an inauspicious start when he intercepted a pass intended for Jameson Williams, which should have resulted in a pass interference penalty. He didn’t do himself any favors with his performance the rest of the day, though. Yes, Goff threw for 307 yards, but he made a poor interception on a ball in the fourth quarter when the Lions were in field goal range and was lucky to avoid two more interceptions. Several of Goff’s mistakes came when he was under pressure up the middle, including the botched throw that Jordan Whitehead nearly intercepted. Goff threw a few more dimes late, including one to Amon-Ra St. Brown for a third-and-9 conversion with just over 2 minutes to play, but he’ll have to get better if this offense wants to get out of the slump it’s been in for the past two weeks. Grade: C-minus

Running backs

David Montgomery and Jahmyr Gibbs started Sunday’s game together and again shared the workload. Montgomery (11 carries, 35 yards) scored the Lions’ only touchdown on a 1-yard run, while Gibbs (13 carries, 84 yards) was electric at times with the ball in his hands. Gibbs showed his strength by breaking two tackles on a 16-yard run in the third quarter, and Montgomery took a page from Gibbs with some nifty open-field maneuvering on a 15-yard catch in the fourth quarter. Gibbs did allow a pressure up the middle on Goff’s second interception, but the duo combined for 119 yards and 11 catches against one of the league’s best run defenses. Grade: A-minus

Receivers/Tight Ends

St. Brown caught 11 passes for 119 yards, giving him 31 catches in his three games against the Bucs over the past 11 months. His biggest play, however, may have been the interception, which he broke with a daring play for the second week in a row. Williams’ speed is a key weapon on offense, and he quickly became a crowd favorite, catching a 50-yard pass on the Lions’ second offensive play. Williams did miss a block when Gibbs took a short loss of yardage just before the 2-minute warning, but he, Brock Wright and Graham Glasgow provided key blocks on Gibbs’ fourth attempt, which was recorded on the same drive. Sam LaPorta (two catches, 13 yards) had another quiet day, but made the key block when Goff converted a third-and-2 attempt on a play-action quarterback keeper. The Lions didn’t have many yards after the catch as a receiving group, but Tim Patrick used his size to fight through defenders on both of his catches. Grade: B-minus

Offensive line

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The Lions averaged 5.1 yards per carry against a good Tampa defense and didn’t allow a sack all day, but I thought the unit wasn’t quite as good in pass defense as it was last week. Taylor Decker allowed pressure on one of Goff’s near interceptions, and Frank Ragnow and Kevin Zeitler seemed to have a miscommunication up front on Goff’s second interception. Ragnow, Zeitler and Penei Sewell provided the rush up front on Montgomery’s 1-yard touchdown run, and Sewell, Zeitler and LaPorta made crucial blocks on Montgomery’s other first-down pickup. Ragnow was penalized for holding on the play before Goff’s interception. Grade: B

Defensive line

Aidan Hutchinson had a monster day against backup right tackle Justin Skule. Hutchinson had sacks on each of Tampa’s first two possessions that delayed the drive, turned inside on a stunt with Alim McNeill for his first and burst through Skule to hit Baker Mayfield two plays after Goff’s first interception. Hutchinson finished the game with 4.5 sacks — sharing a sack with Levi Onwuzurike — and he wasn’t the only defensive lineman effective rushing. Hutchinson, McNeill and DJ Reader nearly scored a sack midway through the fourth quarter when Mayfield pushed the ball to his tight end and lost it 4 yards just before it hit the ground, and McNeill had a rush in the third quarter that led to a tackle by Jack Campbell, who lost the ball before Hutchinson scored his fourth sack. With Marcus Davenport out, the Lions couldn’t expect much from their second defensive end, but Reader was able to apply pressure on numerous running plays on a day when Tampa only rushed for 70 yards. Grade: A-minus

Linebackers

Derrick Barnes had five tackles and made two big plays in pass coverage. He forced Mayfield to swallow the ball on Hutchinson’s first sack as he fell into a passing lane at the goal line and leapt to block a quick slant late in the game that would have secured the Bucs’ victory without giving the Lions one last chance to win. Alex Anzalone (four tackles) left in the second half with a brain injury, so Campbell (six tackles, two TFL) got a bit more playing time despite sharing snaps with Malcolm Rodriguez for the second straight week. Rodriguez ran over Mayfield when he had a chance to make a tackle in the open field and then failed to break a block on the next play, which turned out to be the game-winning 11-yard touchdown run. Grade: B

Defensive Backs

Rookie cornerback Terrion Arnold picked up two costly penalties for the second week in a row. Arnold was penalized for pass interference when he went too rough on a long ball on Tampa’s first possession, and he was assessed a facemask penalty on the Bucs’ final touchdown drive. The Lions managed to take Mike Evans (three catches, 42 yards) out of the game, but something of a miscommunication occurred on Chris Godwin’s 41-yard touchdown catch when Amik Robertson misinterpreted the play as a bubble screen and Godwin snuck down the sideline with Arnold and Campbell on his heels. Brian Branch had a strong game (six tackles, two PBUs and an interception), and Carlton Davis III made a first-down-saving tackle on Godwin on a bubble screen, forcing a field goal on Tampa’s second drive. Grade: B-minus

Special teams

The Lions proved once again they aren’t afraid to fake punt in any situation, converting a 17-yard pass from Jack Fox from their own 20-yard line to Sione Vaki. Fox also had a nice punt to pin Tampa at the 9-yard line early in the fourth quarter when Dan Campbell missed a 59-yard field goal attempt. Jake Bates converted all three of his field goals from 22, 35 and 32 yards, and Kalif Raymond’s 9-yard punt return in the fourth quarter put the Lions in plus territory on their final possession. The Lions did leave points on the board at the end of the half, but Campbell said he was responsible for that mistake, so it doesn’t count toward this grade. Grade: A-minus

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Coaching

Campbell said he made a mistake sending the field goal team out on the field when Goff tried to punch the ball on the final play of the second quarter, which resulted in a penalty for too many players on the field that included a loss of time and ended the half. Campbell did not elaborate on the mechanics of the error in his postgame press conference, but it was an unforgivable mistake. I would have liked to have seen the Lions throw at least one pass in the end zone late in the game while trailing by four points. Goff said they tried to gain yards to make their throws to the goal line more accurate plays, but they ran four plays inside Tampa’s 20 on their second-to-last possession and gained 2 yards. Ben Johnson had some creative plays, including a 15-yard end-around to Williams that was peppered with plenty of catcher’s picks. I thought Campbell’s punt was the right choice instead of attempting the 59-yard field goal early in the fourth quarter, considering how Aaron Glenn’s defense has played the past two weeks. Grade: D

Dave Birkett is the author of the new book “Detroit Lions: An Illustrated Timeline.” Pre-order now from Reedy Press.

Contact him at [email protected]Follow him on X and Instagram at @davebirkett.