Detroit Lions coach Dan Campbell continues to grow his reputation as the new Motor City Madman, calling a fake punt deep in his own end in Week 2 against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Down 13-6 midway through the second quarter, the Lions faced a 4th-and-12 at their own 20-yard line. That's when Campbell let it fly.
Lions punter Jack Fox caught the longsnap, faked a punt, and threw it over the middle to backup running back and special teams player Sione Vaki for a 17-yard gain and a Detroit first down.
Unfortunately for Dan Campbell and the Lions, the fake punt was ultimately for naught as the drive fizzled out just across midfield. The team once again faced a fourth down, and with six yards to go, they punted for real.
Detroit would get the ball back on an interception and get one more drive to score points before the half. However, the Lions got a 12-men-on-the-field penalty with three seconds left. That foul at the end of a half comes with a 10-second runoff and without any timeouts left, the half ended that way and the Lions went to the locker room down seven.
This is a huge matchup between the Lions and the Buccaneers in Week 2. Both teams have Super Bowl aspirations this season after winning their division, making the playoffs, and winning postseason games last year. The Buccaneers knocked the Philadelphia Eagles out of the 2023 playoffs but then fell to the Lions in the Divisional Round. The Lions had beaten the Los Angeles Rams to get to the Divisional Round but fell to the San Francisco 49ers in the NFC Championship.
Both teams came into Week 2 1-0 after the Lions beat the Rams 26-20 in Week 1 while the Buccaneers took care of the Washington Commanders and rookie No. 2 overall pick Jayden Daniels with relative ease, winning 37-20.
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