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On Sunday in Tampa, Detroit proved there is plenty to play for down the stretch – even if the playoffs are out of reach.

The Lions beat the Bucs 23-20 in overtime on a 34-yard field goal by Dave Rayner.

The win – which marked the first on the road for the Lions since 2007 – saw standout performances by quarterback Drew Stanton, wide receiver Calvin Johnson and running back Maurice Morris.

“There were some huge performances,” said Head Coach Jim Schwartz. “The two-minute drive at the end, no timeouts. (Tony Scheffler) makes a big play in there. Calvin makes a play in overtime that puts us down there; great toe-tap on the sideline.

“But Maurice Morris was our lifeblood today. He kept on creasing them in the run game, running strong.”

The performances of Morris and Stanton represent the growing team depth that has taken place under Schwartz and General Manager Martin Mayhew.

Rookie running back Jahvid Best has had to play through turf toe injuries the entire season and third-year pro Kevin Smith was placed on Injured-Reserve, putting the brunt of running the ball on Morris.

Over the past four games, Morris has 55 carries for 283 yards and three touchdowns – 109 yards and one touchdown against the Bucs.

“That was one of the gutsiest performances I’ve seen,” said Stanton of Morris. “He was hurt in every single play, taking deep breaths, trying to take his mind off of the pain. That’s the type of player he is and it was fortunate, we just kept moving it and moving it.”

Stanton can also be credited with a gutsy performance, suffering a shoulder injury at the end of the first half only to return at the outset of the second.

He completed 23-of-37 for 252 yards and one touchdown, finishing with a quarterback rating of 91.3.

“He’s gaining a lot of experience with this playing time,” said Johnson, who finished with 10 catches for 152 yards. “The only way you gain experience in this league is through playing time. The more and more playing time he gets, the better he’ll become.”

Stanton has not only shown improvement, he has shown the ability to rebound.

He finished the first half of last week’s game without a completion, but hung in there and found a way to get it done.

This week, he held on in the clutch to lead the Lions on back-to-back field goal drives – one tied the game to force overtime and the other notched the win.

“I think going back and watching the film and evaluating, I just never got into a rhythm (last week),” said Stanton. “(I knew I need to) just come in and trust what I can do and believe in the abilities in the people around me and let them make the plays.

“We shot ourselves in the foot a couple of times, but that was the only time we really got stopped when it was self-inflicted wounds. It feels so good to come away with a win and put another streak behind us.”

Offense tends to get glory after victories, but the past two weeks have proved that the Lions are improving as a complete team.

Against Green Bay, the defense paced the game, keeping Detroit in it to allow Stanton and the offense to win the game.

This week, it was special teams that made a noticeable difference.

Stefan Logan had four kickoff returns for 79 yards (with a long of 29), but the more notable item is that the Bucs squib-kicked twice to keep it from him.

The second of those kicks came to open the second half and it gave the Lions great field position at their own 42-yard line.

The offense dominantly marched down the field in nine plays for a touchdown that put the Lions in the lead, 17-14.

And then, of course, were Rayner’s two field goals.

“He’s been big – he’s been big for us today. Especially that last field goal,” said Johnson. “I didn’t have any doubt that he was going to miss it – he’s been on it extra hard.

“He missed some earlier this season, but ever since then he’s been working at it extra hard. It’s paying off."