The home team dominated the first half, although the Buccaneers’ defense was able to keep its team in the game despite a total yardage edge of 275-58. That effort included two takeaways and holding the Lions to one conversion on six third-down attempts. The Lions also missed a 54-yard field goal attempt and three sacks of Jared Goff helped cut several drives short. The Bucs narrowly avoided their first scoreless first half in a game since 2023 when Chase McLaughlin drilled a 53-yarder as time expired.
The Bucs won the opening toss and deferred their decision to the second half, which meant Detroit got the game’s first possession. The drive started at the Lions’ 31 and Goff’s first pass, in Amon-Ra St. Brown’s direction was thrown under pressure and incomplete. However, Gibbs took a swing pass out to the left on the next snap and side-stepped two would-be tacklers to find open field for a gain of 30 to the Bucs’ 39. Two Jahmyr Gibbs runs got a total of four yards, and the Bucs got quick pressure on a four-man rush and forced an incompletion. However, there was an illegal contact flag thrown on Jacob Parrish, which made it first-and-10 at the Bucs’ 30. Two plays later, St. Brown got open on a crossing route and easily loped into the end zone on a 27-yard score.
Kameron Johnson got the ensuing kickoff out past midfield but all of it came back on a holding call on S Kaevon Merriweather, forcing the Bucs to start at their own 15. White got the first-down handoff and lowered his shoulder to gain five yards up the gut, but Mayfield tripped while scrambling on second down, making it third-and-six. Mayfield had to throw on the run on third down, and while he got the ball to Sterling Shepard it came up short of the line to gain and the Bucs had to punt. It was fair caught at the Lions’ 35.
St. Brown got wide open on the first play of the next drive and caught a 24-yard pass to get the ball into Buccaneers territory again. David Montgomery’s first carry of the game only gained a yard thanks to a backside run blitz by S Tykee Smith, and two plays later the Lions faced a third-and-four at the Bucs’ 35. Diaby beat his man to get behind Goff and swiped at the quarterback’s arm, forcing a fumble that Roberts recovered at the Bucs’ 40.
The Bucs’ penalty woes continued with a false start on their next snap, and a sideline downfield shot to Evans was incomplete. TE Cade Otton held onto a tipped ball for eight yards on second down, but LB Jack Campbell defended a screen pass to White perfectly and dropped him for a loss of two, leading to another punt.
The Lions started anew at their 14 after a fair catch and Gibbs got just three into the arms of Logan Hall on first down. St. Brown caught a short out and once again slipped a tackle to get 16 yards and a first down at the 33. Two more Gibbs runs amounted to 14 yards and a first down at the Bucs’ 47, after which Goff ran a play-action rollout right and chose to keep it for a six-yard scramble. A short pass out to the right to Gibbs got him free for a gain of 24 to the Bucs’ 23. DL Vita Vea blew up the next play to give Gibbs a loss of three; two plays later, on third-and-nine, Goff hit WR Kalif Raymond over the middle for seven yards. The Lions left their offense on the field, and turned it over on downs when a shot to rookie WR Isaac TeSlaa on a go route was overthrown.
The Bucs thus took over at their own 15 in the final minute of the first quarter. A two-yard White run brought the first quarter to a close. Another sideline shot to Evans worked better this time, with the receiver drawing a 28-yard pass-interference call. That put the ball at the Bucs’ 40, and two plays later the offense faced a third-and-three, with Mayfield’s pass getting batted down at the line. The resulting punt was fair caught at the 14.
An outlet pass to Montgomery sprung the back for a 15-yard gain to give the Lions’ offense some breathing room, but Smith dropped him for a loss of two on the next handoff. That was followed by a false start to make it second-and-17, but a seam pass to St. Brown got 12 and made it a manageable third down. The Bucs blitzed on third down and Dennis broke through to drop Goff for a loss of 12.
After the punt, the Bucs had the ball at their 36 with 10 minutes to go in the half. A downfield shot ended up incomplete with Evans and Tez Johnson colliding, and a second-down completion to Egbuka was limited to four yards. Mayfield scrambled forward on third down and got off a low pass to TE Cade Otton for just enough for a first down. Miscommunication on yet another deep sideline pass intended for Tez Johnson was incomplete, and two plays later, on third-and-six, Evans grabbed a deep out but couldn’t get a second foot down to make it a reception. Riley Dixon’s fourth punt was fair caught at the 13.
A late shift by the Bucs’ defensive line prompted a Lions false start, and they drew an illegal-block-in-the-back call on the next snap. That moved the ball back to the six-yard line and made it first-and-17. The Lions shortly faced a third-and-six at their 17, and threw incomplete but had their drive saved by an illegal contact call on Jamel Dean. On the very next play, Gibbs broke free for a 78-yard touchdown run up the right sideline.
A touchback on the ensuing kickoff put the ball on the Bucs’ 35 with just under six minutes left in the half. White stiff-armed a defender and cut back for five yards on a first-down carry. Mayfield launched a deep pass to Evans on the next play and the receiver couldn’t hold onto the ball through contact with the ground. He had to be helped off the field, and on third down Mayfield was swarmed over before he could get off a throw, leading to a punt with four minutes left. It was fair caught at the Lions’ 14.
An offensive pass interference call on WR Jameson Williams put the Lions into a second-and-15 at their nine and a sideline shot to St. Brown was well-covered and incomplete. On third down, Roberts got into the backfield quickly and broke up a pass to forced a punt. On the first play of the ensuing drive, Shepard caught a short pass over the middle but had the ball punched out of his hands by CB Amik Robertson. Hutchinson recovered the loose ball at Tampa Bay’s 41.