– by Adesina O. Koiki
A Lot of Sports Talk editor-in-chief
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DETROIT — The only thing that slowed down the Detroit Lions on Monday night were themselves, a series of self-inflicted mistakes that kept their opponent in with a shot at spoiling a Motor City party.
Absolutely nothing slowed down Jahmyr Gibbs, however, and his motor was the driving force to assure the Lions did what they have done best over the past few seasons: bounce back from defeat and get right back in the win column.
Gibbs accounted for 218 yards and two touchdowns, including a 78-yard sprint to the end zone in the second quarter, as the Lions dominated field position all game in their 24-9 win over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers inside Ford Field. Jared Goff threw for 241 yards with a touchdown and an interception while Detroit’s defense held Tampa Bay to just 251 total yards, almost 116 yards below the Buccaneers’ season average.
One week after a primetime defeat last Sunday in Kansas City against the Chiefs, the Lions extended their league-high streak of not losing consecutive games in the regular season to 51.
Gibbs’ career night got off to an auspicious start on the second play from scrimmage, catching a screen pass in the right flat before juking a couple of defenders and streaking down the right sideline for a 30-yard game. Goff completed the drive with a 27-yard touchdown pass to Amon-Ra St. Brown five plays later.
The Lions outgained Tampa Bay 275-58, but kept Tampa Bay in it as Goff committed a pair of turnovers with Detroit in Buccaneers’ territory, a strip-sack by Yaya Diaby in the first and an interception by Jamel Dean with under a minute left in the second quarter that set up the Bucs’ first points, a Chase McLaughlin’s 53-yard field goal on the final play of the first half.
In between those turnovers, however, Gibbs exploded up the middle for a 78-yard touchdown run that doubled the Lions’ lead at 14-0.
Tampa Bay clawed its way back to within striking distance early in the third on a Baker Mayfield 22-yard touchdown to Tez Johnson on a wide receiver screen that the latter weaved through tacklers down the sideline to reach paydirt. On the ensuing drive, however, Gibbs had a 15-yard run and a 28-yard reception to set up his second touchdown, a 5-yard run up the middle, that gave the Lions a 21-9 lead late in the third quarter.
Gibbs is the first NFL player with at least 135 yards rushing, 80 yards receiving and two rushing touchdowns in the same game since Chris Johnson pulled off the feat while with the Tennessee Titans in 2009.
*Editor’s note: Above the byline is the photo gallery from Monday evening’s game, with photos taken by ALOST staff photographer Aaron J. Thornton. After clicking on a photo to enlarge the picture, press the left and right arrow buttons on either side of the caption to scroll through the rest of the pictures that appear on the first page, Also, click on the numbers and/or arrow appearing immediately below the picture grid to load the next set of photos. There are 28 pictures in total.
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