Tampa Bay Buccaneers at Detroit Lions Week 15 December 15 2019 Recap
The following is from the Detroit Lions’ 38-17 loss to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers at Ford Field on Sunday, Dec. 15, 2019.
POST-GAME NOTES
LIONS SCORING PLAYS
– Second Quarter: K Matt Prater kicked a 44-yard field goal with 3:17 left in the half to cut the Buccaneers’ lead to 21-3.
– Third Quarter: RB Wes Wills scored on a one-yard touchdown rush to make the score 24-10 with 6:45 left in the quarter.
– Fourth Quarter: RB Wes Hills scored on a one-yard touchdown rush to cut the score to 24-17 with 14:57 left in the game.
TEAM NOTES
The Lions…
– Scored at least 17 points in their sixth-straight home game, their longest single-season streak since doing so seven times in the 2015 season.
– Held the Buccaneers to 49 rushing yards, their fewest allowed since holding the Packers to 46 rushing yards on Dec. 30, 2018.
– Had a second running back (Wes Hills) score a rushing touchdown in their NFL debut this season, joining RB Bo Scarbrough.
– Only committed two penalties for 10 yards. Their two penalties committed and 10 penalty yards are their fewest since doing so vs. Carolina on Nov. 18, 2018.
INDIVIDUAL NOTES
WR DANNY AMENDOLA
– Produced his third 100-yard game of the season, matching his previous single-season career high of three games set in 2013.
– At 34 years and 43 days old, he became the oldest player in franchise history to post a 100-yard game. No player 34 years-or-older had previously produced a 100-yard game for Detroit.
– Entered into a tie with WR Lionel Taylor for the fifth-most seasons (six) with at least 50 receptions and 600 receiving yards by an undrafted player in NFL history.
– Joined Cardinals WR Larry Fitzgerald and Saints WR Tedd Ginn Jr. as the only NFL players age 34 years-or-older to produce a 100-yard receiving game this season.
QB DAVID BLOUGH
– Finished 24-of-43 (55.8%) for 260 passing yards.
– Passed QB Rodney Peete (668) for the most passing yards a Lions quarterback has had in their first three career games.
– Passed QB Joey Harrington (60) for the most completions a Lions quarterback has had in their first three starts.
– Completed at least 22 passes for the third-straight game, becoming the fifth player in NFL history to complete at least 22 passes in each of his first three career starts.
LB DEVON KENNARD
– Recorded four tackles (two solo), two tackles for loss, one quarterback hit and 1.0 sack.
– Became the first Lions linebacker to post 7.0 sacks in consecutive seasons since LB Mike Cofer did so in 1989-90.
– Joins LB Za’Darius Smith as the only linebackers in the NFL to record 45 total tackles and 7.0 sacks in each of the past two seasons.
– Now has 14.0 sacks in his career with the Lions, moving into sole possession for the fourth-most by a linebacker in franchise history.
WR CHRIS LACY
– Caught his first-career NFL pass for 48 yards. This marks the longest first reception by a Lions player since WR Corey Fuller caught a 52-yard pass for his first reception on Sept. 21, 2014.
WR KENNY GOLLADAY
– Passed WR Gail Cogdill (2,589) for the third-most receiving yards by a Lions receiver in their first three seasons.
RB WES HILLS
– Finished with 10 carries for 21 yards (2.1 avg.) and two rushing touchdowns, while adding two receptions for one yard.
– Joined RB Isaiah Crowell (2014) as the only undrafted rookies in the common draft era to rush for two touchdowns in their first-career game.
– Became the third player in Lions history, and first undrafted rookie, to rush for two touchdowns in his first-career NFL game. The only other Lions to do so are RBs Jahvid Best (2010) and Billy Sims (1980).
– Became the first undrafted rookie running back to start for the Lions since three players did so during the 1987 strike year. Prior to the 1987 strike, the most recent to do so was RB Vince Thompson in 1981.
– Became the first Lions undrafted rookie free agent to rush for a touchdown in his first-career game since RB Tion Green did so at Baltimore on Dec. 3, 2017.
DE ROMEO OKWARA
– Finished with three solo tackles, one tackle for loss, one quarterback hit and 1.0 sack.
– Recorded his first full sack of the season, bringing his career total to 10.0
K MATT PRATER
– Finished one-of-one on field goal attempts and two-of-two on extra points to produce five points on the day.
– Reached 100 points on the season, passing K Eddie Murray (four) for the second-most 100-point seasons in Lions history.
– Prater and Ravens K Justin Tucker are the only players to record 100-point seasons in each of the past five seasons, and Prater is only the fourth kicker with nine 100-point seasons since 2008.
LB JAHLANI TAVAI
– Finished with five tackles (two solo), one quarterback hit, one pass defense and one interception.
– Since tackles for loss began being tracked in 1994, Tavai is the first linebacker in franchise history to produce a season with at least 50 tackles, five tackles for loss, 2.0 sacks, one forced fumble and one interception.
– Became the first Lions rookie linebacker to produce five tackles for loss, 1.0 sack and one interception in his first season since LB Teddy Lehman did so in 2004.
– Joined DT Ndamukong Suh as the only rookies in franchise history to tally at least five tackles for loss, 2.0 sacks, one interception and one forced fumble in a season.
– Became the first Lions linebacker to record an interception in a home game since LB Jarrad Davis did so vs. Green Bay on Dec. 31, 2017. This is also the last time a rookie linebacker has done so for Detroit.
DB TRACY WALKER
– Finished with seven tackles (five solo) and one pass defense.
– Has produced at least six tackles in every home game this season. He is the first defensive back in team history to have at least six tackles in seven home games in a single season.
– Has logged at least five tackles in all 11 games he’s appeared this season.
– His 89 tackles through the first 14 games of the season are the fifth-most a Lions defensive back have ever produced, while his 73 solo tackles rank as the third-most.
LIONS HEAD COACH MATT PATRICIA – Opening statement: “OK, so as far as the injuries are concerned, we had a couple of guys at the end of the game: Kenny Wiggins with his arm, we’ll take a look at that here tomorrow and see where he’s at. J.D. McKissic was kind of in the shoulder, neck area there, so we’re going to get some looks on that. (Devon) Kennard was his leg. He couldn’t come back, so we’ll see where he’s at, but I think he should be OK, but we’ll see where he’s at this week. Mike Daniels was his arm, so he went out a little bit early in that deal. We’ll see where he’s at from there. Those would be the four main ones right now that we’re really kind of grinding through here after the game. I think for us, obviously a slow start. Not really what we want to do against an explosive team like this. Obviously, it’s detrimental. They can score extremely fast, they’re a very aggressive defense, they have good players on both sides of the ball, so you have to do a better job to start the game. We had to make some major adjustments there. I think to some of the things that we were doing, I thought once the game settled down, I think our guys went out and fought really hard to try to get things right. We got some adjustments at halftime that we needed, and kind of went out there and tried to improve on what we were doing. Obviously (we) didn’t finish in the end. I thought we were in a good place at the end, we were coming back, and then a couple of turnovers and things like that kind of hurt us. Obviously, then the touchdown at the end, but from that aspect of it I think the guys are trying. We had some young players out there, certainly some plays out there that are plays that we have to make that are awareness. You just have to be able to see that it’s coming and just be able to play it better than what we did. Certainly, from that aspect of it, we’ll go back, we’ll re-coach it, and make sure that we’re all getting better from that aspect of it – coaching and playing. Some of those young guys that are out there, they have an opportunity and they have to step up and go too from that aspect of it. Again, I think the one thing that is consistent is the team fights, they work hard really, regardless of who’s out there. Sometimes we get down a couple of guys and we’re trying to figure out different combinations of things that we can do. From that aspect of it, we just have to try to do a better job here to start the game and get out there a little bit faster. Give (Buccaneers Head Coach Bruce) Arians a lot of credit. He’s got those guys playing really hard, really well. They’re good players and they’re playing really well together, so they were ready to go. We’ll just go to questions.”
WR DANNY AMENDOLA: On how hard the season has been: “Let me tell you something, if you don’t win the Super Bowl, every season is tough, you know what I’m saying? There are 31 teams that go home disappointed and there’s one team at the end of the year that is happy and I know that from experience. We got a lot of guys who are beat up, banged up and injured and we got guys rolling in, next man up, trying to step up, trying to make plays. Everyone here is trying their best, everybody is fighting. I love how everyone comes to work, I love how we fight on game day and whatever the situation may be, we are going to get out there and fight for our brothers. So that is what I love about this team.”
QB DAVID BLOUGH: On what he has learned about NFL defenders and how they react to where his eyes are looking: “Those guys are really good at what they do. That’s why they’re on the field, too. I have to be better with my eye discipline. I can’t just think something is one thing and predetermine things, and not go through my reads. That’s what has got me in trouble sometimes. I have to trust my eyes and get the ball in the right position. Obviously, (I) can’t have those two turnovers and put ourselves in a bad position. Coming out of the half, which we talked about this week a ton, was going to be huge for us. Then once we fought back and had ourselves in a position to tie it up.”
T TAYLOR DECKER: On the difficulty of coming back within seven points and then the “pick-six” happening: “I mean, that’s just the nature of the game. A lot of games, I don’t know the percentages, but it’s a high percentage where games are decided by seven points or less. So to get down early and have to battle back, it’s a tough position that we put ourselves in. They’ve got plenty of great players on their team and we just can’t get down early.”
DT DAMON HARRISON SR.: On his reaction to Head Coach Matt Patricia huddling up the defense on the sideline: “No, I can’t give you much, boss. I’m an even-keel guy on the sidelines. My reaction to it would be the same either way.”
RB WES HILLS: On his first-career start: “It’s a great opportunity the Lions gave me. I was trying to take advantage of that opportunity. It’s a dream come true, but it would’ve been 10 times better with a win.”
Detroit Lions Schedule
Ford Field Seating Chart
Ford Field Parking Lots