Tampa Bay vs Detroit has been a series of streaks. Right now Detroit holds a 27 to 25 series advantage, but the Bucs have won seven of the last nine games. That’s because the Bucs have been a competitive team for the most part of 1997-2005, while the Lions have been considerable losers for the entire decade. The last two meetings have been splits, with Tampa Bay taking the last meeting 28-20 in 2008, and lost the year before when Jeff Garcia decided to start turning the ball over which he hadn’t done in a long time. They played twice a year for most of history, but since the re-alignment of 2002, these two rivals have only faced each other 4 times in what would have been 16 contests before. For the longest time, the Bucs actually had an advantage over Detroit, one of the few teams the Bucs did have a lifetime lead over. But the Barry Sanders era had a poor effect on the record, at least from the Bucs point of view. Five straight losses, the longest such streak in the series, tilted the scales in Detroit’s favor. Interesting fact, the most points scored by any one team in the series, is 38, and both teams accomplished that feat at least once. RANKINGS- Tampa Bay when it has the ball will use their 21st ranked Offense (11th rushing, 22nd passing) against Detroit’s 19th Defense (22nd run, 13th pass). When Detroit has the ball, their 17th ranked offense (27th rushing, 11th passing) goes up against the Bucs 16th ranked defense that is 27th against the run while 11th against the pass. Points scored favors the Lions 917th to 22nd) while points against favors the Bucs (13th to 21st). The Bucs are doing well in several categories, including;
- Rushing Yards per attempt (4.3) which is 12th in the NFL
- Passing, Percentage of passes intercepted- 1.5% is 3rd in the NFL, thanks To Josh Freeman!
- Third down efficiency has the Bucs 7th in the league with 42.1%
- 4th down efficiency, the Bucs are 63.6% or tied for 4th.
- Pass defense, passes intercepted, the Bucs get 4.3% which is #2!
LeGarrett Blount has 667 yards rushing with three games left to try to get 300 plus yards for a 1,000 yard rookie season. Jahvid Best has 485. Megatron, otherwise known as Calvin Johnson has 63 catches for 916 yards. Mike Williams AND Kellen Winslow BOTH have 52 grabs, but Williams has 784 yards, so he needs 200 plus in three games to get his 1,000 rookie season. DIRECT CONNECTIONS
- Lions General Manager Martin Mayhew played cornerback for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers for four seasons from 1993-96, and played collegiately for Florida State University.
- Bucs Offensive Coordinator Greg Olson worked as the quarterbacks coach for the Lions in 2004, and was promoted to offensive coordinator in addition to being quarterbacks coach in 2005.
- Bucs Associate Head Coach and Special Teams Coach Richard Bisaccia worked at Wayne State University as the defensive backs coach in 1983, and quarterbacks/receivers coach from 1984-87.
- Bucs Defensive Backs Coach Jimmy Lake was the Lions secondary coach in 2008.
- Lions Vice President of Football Operations Cedric Saunders was the director of player development for the Buccaneers from 2001-05.
- Lions Secondary Coach Tim Walton worked at the University of Miami (FL) as a defensive backs coach from 2004-06, and defensive coordinator in 2007.
- Lions Offensive Line Coach George Yarno served as Tampa Bay’s assistant offensive line coach in 2008.
- Lions WR Brian Clark is a native of Tampa and also spent time with the Buccaneers on both the practice squad and active roster from 2007-09 .
- Lions LB Vinny Ciurciu spent part of the 2003 season as a member of the Bucs.
- Lions TE Will Heller played for the Bucs from 2003-05.
- Bucs C Donovan Raiola and Lions C Dominic Raiola are brothers.
- Bucs CB E.J. Biggers played collegiately at Western Michigan University from 2005-2008.
- Lions DT Andre Fluellen played collegiately for Florida State University from 2003-07.
- Lions T Jason Fox played collegiately for the University of Miami (FL) from 2006-09.
WHAT TO LOOK FOR- – CB Ronde Barber • With 26.0 career sacks, Barber needs one more to surpass Broderick Thomas (26.5 sacks, 1989-93) for seventh-most sacks in team history. – RB LeGarrette Blount • With two more rushing touchdowns, Blount will tie Carnell Williams (six touchdowns in 2005) for the second-most rushing touchdowns by a rookie in a single season in franchise history. • Blount has 667 rushing yards this season and needs 24 more to surpass Jerry Eckwood (690 yards in 1979) for fourth-most rushing yards by a rookie in a single season in franchise history. • Blount has 149 carries this season and needs three more to pass Ricky Bell (148 carries in 1977) forsixth-most, and 18 more to pass Reggie Cobb (151 carries in 1990) for fifth-most carries by a rookie in a single season in franchise history. – QB Josh Freeman • Freeman has 27 passing touchdowns with the Buc- caneers and needs five more to tie Brian Griese (32 from 2004-08) for the seventh-most passing touch- downs in team history. – RB Earnest Graham • Graham has 15 rushing touchdowns with the Buc- caneers and needs one more to pass Lars Tate (15 from 1988-89) and tie Ricky Bell (16 from 1977-81) for the seventh-most rushing touchdowns in team history. • Graham has 1,842 career rushing yards with the Buccaneers and needs four more yards to pass Jerry Eckwood (1,845 rushing yards) for ninth-most rush- ing yards in team history. – RB Carnell Williams • Williams has 20 rushing touchdowns with the Buc- caneers and needs one more to tie Reggie Cobb (21 from 1990-93) for the fourth-most rushing touch- downs in team history. – WR Mike Williams • Williams has 52 receptions this season and needs four more to pass Lawrence Dawsey (55 receptions in 1991) for third-most receptions by a rookie in a single season in franchise history. • Williams has 784 receiving yards and needs 35 more to surpass Lawrence Dawsey (818 yards in 1991) for second-most receiving yards by a rookie in a single season in franchise history. • With one more touchdown reception, Williams will pass Michael Clayton (seven in 1980) for the most touchdown receptions by a rookie in a single season in franchise history. – TE Kellen Winslow • Winslow has 129 receptions with the Buccaneers and needs one more to pass Alex Smith (129 from 2005-08) for the fifth-most receptions by a tight end in team history. • Winslow has 1,442 receiving yards with the Buc- caneers and needs 193 more yards to pass Jackie Harris (1,634 receiving yards from 1994-97) for the fourth-most receiving yards by a tight end in team history. • Winslow has eight receiving touchdowns with the Buccaneers and needs three more to tie Ron Hall (10 touchdowns from 1987-93) for the fifth-most receiv- ing touchdowns by a tight end in team history. And to finish, if you like the old PDF Program, and want to read all 76 pages of info, just click the photo on top for it! GO BUCS! Dont forget to check back post game for comments, and media as it becomes available.
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