Detroit Lions head coach Dan Campbell said earlier this week he expected the reserves in his secondary to compete and cut it loose. That's exactly what they did, helping lead Detroit to a 24-9 victory over the Bucs on Monday Night Football.
The Lions were without D.J. Reed, Terrion Arnold, Avonte Maddox, Kerby Joseph and Brian Branch Monday night. That's their entire starting secondary and a key reserve.
Amik Robertson, Rock Ya-Sin, Nick Whiteside, Arthur Maulet, Erick Hallett and Thomas Harper stepped in and made play after play all night long.
"That's what's expected here," Campbell said after the game. "I've said it before, you get in there, you don't have to be perfect, you just challenge and you compete, and we will help you and the guys around you will help you.
"I love the fact the game didn't seem too big for those guys. That was Harper's and Hallett's first start. I thought it wasn't too big for them. They got in there and competed and that's a great sign."
Just look at some of the contributions Detroit got from their depth in the secondary: Robertson had a critical forced fumble recovered by the Lions. He defended a pass and had three tackles. Maulet recorded an interception and added five tackles and a pass defended. Ya-Sin had four tackles and two passes defended. Whiteside defended three passes, including a couple critical ones late in the fourth quarter. Harper had three tackles and a pass defended. Hallett led the team with eight tackles.
Detroit's secondary defended eight passes total in the contest as Detroit's defense allowed just nine points and created two takeaways and two turnovers on downs.
"I told those guys after the game how proud I was of them, every single one of them," Robertson said of all the new faces starting and playing in the secondary. "All I thought about when I was out there was playing for those guys."
The Lions now head to their bye week and are expected to get several injured players back at some point after the bye.
GIBBS' BIG NIGHT
Campbell had a feeling the night third-year running back Jahmyr Gibbs had Monday against the Buccaneers was brewing for some time.
"You felt like this was coming," he said. "You felt like this has been building. Every week has gotten closer and closer and tonight was the night where he busted one of these out of there and there will be no looking back. I think he's just going to continue to do this."
Gibbs' first touch of the game was a swing pass from quarterback Jared Goff he turned into a 30-yard gain, making two Bucs defenders reach for air in open space with a stop and start cutback. Gibbs never let up from there.
He added a 78-yard touchdown run in the second quarter where he ran past the entire Bucs' defense to give Detroit a 14-point lead at the time. He finished the night averaging 8.0 yards per carry on 17 carries for 136 rushing yards and added three receptions for 82 more yards.
EXTRA POINTS
- It was good to have Alim McNeill back in the lineup. He provided some much-needed pass rush from the interior that impacted Bucs quarterback Baker Mayfield early in the contest. He had three pressures, defended a pass and made a tackle.
- Detroit improved to 13-3 in primetime games under Dan Campbell and have won five straight contests on Monday Night Football.
