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The Detroit Lions made a statement.
At home, Detroit proved to be too much on both sides of the ball, beating the Tampa Bay Buccaneers 24-9 in the first Week 7 Monday Night Football game.
Tampa Bay started slow and continued to struggle, running its first play on Detroit’s side of the field late in the second quarter.
Detroit wasn’t perfect, giving away turnovers of its own in response to Tampa Bay’s miscues. But the difference between Baker Mayfield vs. Jared Goff came down to each quarterback’s running game.
While David Montgomery, also known as Knuckles, struggled, he was aided by his running mate Sonic. Jahymr Gibbs exploded for an impressive performance, logging a season high in ground yards.
The win moved Detroit to 5-2, while Tampa Bay dropped to 5-2 in what is a key result in an open NFC.
Let’s analyze the game further with takeaways:
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Jahmyr Gibbs leads the prowl
Goff wasn’t at his best in this game, while Montgomery struggled on the ground, as aforementioned. Montgomery only mustered 21 rushing yards on 13 attempts, a 1.6 average per carry.
But it didn’t matter as Gibbs took on the load, recording a season-best 136 yards and two touchdowns on 17 carries. His numbers were aided by a 78-yard house call, the longest Lions’ rushing score in 14 years.
Jahmyr Gibbs….confirmed FAST #TBvsDET ? ESPN/ABC pic.twitter.com/NTXHFhvdla— Detroit Lions (@Lions) October 21, 2025
On top of the ground dominance, Gibbs nabbed three passes on three targets for 82 yards, with a long of 30. His early draft selection continues to be justified.
Bucs’ receiving corps suffers setback
Mike Evans finally returned after missing some weeks due to a hamstring injury, but he unfortunately couldn’t finish the game. After failing to bring in a deep pass as he fell to the ground, Evans never got up and didn’t move for a few minutes.
He eventually was helped off, then carted to the locker room. The Bucs ruled him out with both a concussion and shoulder injury. He went four targets without a reception.
Mayfield turned to tight end Cade Otton as his best friend, but to mixed success. Otton brought in seven catches on nine targets for 65 yards, but one failed target was incredibly picked off by Arthur Maulet.
What a play by Arthur Maulet for the interception!
TBvsDET on ESPN/ABC
Stream on @NFLPlus and ESPN App pic.twitter.com/ftwZPKrnct— NFL (@NFL) October 21, 2025
Rookie standout Emeka Egbuka had just four catches on 12 targets for 58 yards.
Kelvin Sheppard maintaining elite levels
With the Lions losing their top two coordinators to head-coaching roles with the Chicago Bears and New York Jets, the team promoted linebacker coach Kelvin Sheppard to DC.
The former Lion and veteran linebacker has ensured the unit has not missed a beat, especially with a healthy Aidan Hutchinson back in the fold.
Despite missing key members in the secondary, Mayfield completed just 28 of 50 passes for 228 yards, one touchdown and the aforementioned Maulet pick on an average of 4.6 yards per throw. Rachaad White only mustered 38 rushing yards on 10 carries.
Jack Campbell and Derrick Barnes were among the many defensive standouts, but Sheppard deserves his flowers for keeping the standards high.
