By Colton Pouncy, Nick Baumgardner and Amos Morale III

Detroit Lions running back Jahmyr Gibbs totaled 218 yards from scrimmage and scored two touchdowns to lead his team’s 24-9 victory against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on “Monday Night Football.”

Gibbs rushed for 136 yards on 17 carries and added 82 yards receiving on three catches. The first of his two touchdowns was a 78-yard sprint to give the Lions a 14-0 lead in the second quarter.

His performance paced Detroit’s offense, while the Lions’ short-handed defense got impressive performances from the reserves stepping into bigger roles.

Lions’ defense makes statement

This Detroit defense — missing a starting edge, two starting cornerbacks and both starting safeties — was able to hold Baker Mayfield and a short-handed Bucs offense in check, in a major way.

This was a stellar night for defensive coordinator Kelvin Sheppard and his unit. He often says the standards don’t drop when starters aren’t available, and that proved true on this night. The Lions limited Tampa Bay to just nine points, 251 yards and 3.8 yards per play. They forced two turnovers and three turnovers on downs.

Mayfield never quite settled in, and played this game without Chris Godwin and Bucky Irving, with Mike Evans exiting in the first half with what was later announced as a broken collarbone. But credit the Detroit defense for coming through when necessary. — Colton Pouncy, Lions beat writer

Time to recharge

The Lions are 5-2 heading into a much-needed bye week. If you told the fan base that before the season, they’d certainly take it. The Lions should get key players back for Week 9 against the Vikings, like Brian Branch, Kerby Joseph and potentially Terrion Arnold and Marcus Davenport. The time off will let them rest up and prepare for a second half that will have tests. But what we’ve learned in the first half is that this Lions team — despite the coaching turnover this offseason — is still here. — Pouncy

Tough trip

Monday night brought optimism early for Tampa Bay, as the Bucs dressed Evans and Emeka Egbuka, both talented receivers. In the end, though, the Bucs left Detroit more banged up than they were when the day began — with a welcome-back-to-Earth style loss.

The Bucs mustered fewer than 60 yards in the first half and wasted a terrific defensive game plan from Todd Bowles. Tampa Bay, now 5-2, is back on the road Sunday at New Orleans. — Nick Baumgardner, NFL writer

Few bright spots for Tampa Bay

Mayfield had his worst passing performance since the season opener against a Detroit defense that was without all four starting defensive backs. D.J. Reed, Arnold and Joseph were out with injury, and Branch was serving a one-game suspension. Making matters worse for Tampa Bay: Evans, who had been out since Week 3 with a hamstring injury, was carted off in the first half with a broken collarbone that will cause him to miss most of the rest of the season.

Tampa Bay’s inconsistency with the pass game will draw most of the attention, but it was the Bucs’ inability to establish anything on the ground that did them in. Mayfield was forced to drop back more than 50 times as Tampa Bay ran just 11 times for 42 yards.

In better news: Monday provided another chapter in rookie receiver Tez Johnson’s emergence. Johnson had four catches for 58 yards and a touchdown, Tampa Bay’s lone score of the night. — Baumgardner