Pitting a team that is fighting for their postseason life versus a team that may be without a good portion of their defensive coaching staff for the game, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and the Detroit Lions face off in a Week 16 matchup at Ford Field.
While the winter elements will not be a problem for either team inside the dome, Tom Brady will undoubtedly pose a bunch of concerns for the Lions’ defense, which has been built with a bunch of former members of the New England Patriots. With former Pats defensive coordinator turned now-former Lions head coach Matt Patricia having been fired, Darrell Bevell now is leading the team, as their former offensive coordinator has taken over.
A COVID-19 scare has rocked the Lions’ coaching staff this week, as Bevell and a slew of defensive assistants (four in total) are currently away from the team’s practice facility, awaiting their eligibility based on coronavirus tracing standards for their game on Saturday.
With the Buccaneers seen as a heavy favorite even before the COVID-19 implications impacted the Lions, let's take a look at four bold predictions for the Buccaneers on Saturday.
1. Brady burns ex-teammates for 400 yards and 3+ touchdowns
When Patricia was hired away from the Pats, he brought with him various members of the New England defense that he coached, which means that Brady has a ton of familiarity going into Saturday.
The Lions' secondary is, to be it nicely, quite gross, something that certainly bodes well for the weapons on this Tampa Bay offense, and they will most likely be in shambles with having coaching deficiencies leading into the game.
On the season, Brady has thrown for 340-plus passing yards five times (most recently against the Los Angeles Chargers in Week 4), and Saturday has the makings of becoming the sixth occasion on the season.
2. Mike Evans, Chris Godwin, Gronk combine for 300 yards and 3 TDs
Speaking of offensive output, Brady has had the likes of Mike Evans, Chris Godwin, Antonio Brown, Tyler Johnson, and Rob Gronkowski to target in the passing game. And while those kinds of weapons at his disposal certainly have made his transition to Tampa Bay easy, the trio of Evans, Godwin, and Gronk has been the biggest catalysts.
Evans (57/779/11), Godwin (55/623/4), and Gronkowski (41/536/5) have accounted for 20/32 of Brady’s passing scores this season, showing that Brady has preferred to not favor any one target more than another. Even though Evans leads the team in yardage, and scores, Godwin only has two fewer reception than Evans, while Gronk has one more receiving score than Godwin.
Corners Mike Ford and Darryl Roberts were listed as non-participants in Detroit’s estimated practice injury report (seeing as how the team did not practice due to not being allowed into the building) and rookie Jeffrey Okudah and Desmond Trufant are already on the IR, which would leave Christian Jones and Jalen Reeves-Maybin as the top corners this week.
None of those healthy names strike any sort of fear or even confidence for Detroit to stop the pass, meaning that Brady and his top weapons may be able to have a field day and get right before their potential postseason berth.
3. Leonard Fournette continues streak of scoring but is not super efficient on the ground
One week after being made a healthy scratch against the Minnesota Vikings, running back Leonard Fournette came off the bench and started in place of Ronald Jones II, who was out after receiving surgery on his finger and being placed on the COVID-19 list. Against the Atlanta Falcons, the former Jacksonville Jaguars back made fantasy teams very happy, as his two touchdowns helped make up for an otherwise uninspiring performance.
14 carries and three receptions resulted in only 65 total yards for Fournette, but his two touchdown runs helped make up for a small-output day against a struggling defense like Atlanta. The Lions are very similarly not good on that side of the ball, so if the Buccaneers can get out to an early and large lead, then Fournette’s ceiling only rises.
4. Tampa defense sacks Matthew Stafford 5+ times
On the defensive side of the ball for Tampa Bay, the Buccaneers will be going up against an injury-riddled Matthew Stafford at quarterback, most likely no Kenny Golladay, an injured offensive line, and a rookie running back in D’Andre Swift that is still trying to work out his defined role in this offense.
All of those elements combined help paint a very healthy picture for Tampa Bay, as their defensive front seven should be able to feast. The defensive line of Ndamukong Suh and Steve McClendon, as well as linebackers Devin White, Lavonte David, and Shaquil Barrett, all have plus matchups to look forward to this upcoming game, even if the Lions can walk out many of their starters.
The added element of this team that has been a struggling unit in years past is their defensive secondary, as corner Carlton Davis and rookie safety Antoine Winfield Jr. have been able to hold down opposing receivers.
The front seven’s pressure alone should be enough to keep the Lions’ offense grounded, and producing five-plus sacks on the day could easily happen early on, as Detroit should be behind early and often in passing situations.
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