The Detroit Lions made plenty of mistakes in their 20-16 loss to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers during Week 2. But there might not have been a bigger Lions blunder in the first half than the offense’s failure to at least add 3 points just before halftime.
The Lions faced second-and-10 at the Tampa Bay 17-yard line with 17 seconds left in the second quarter. Quarterback Jared Goff completed a 8-yard pass to receiver Amon-Ra St. Brown.
But the Lions didn’t have any timeouts remaining, so the offense lined up to spike the ball to stop the clock. The only problem was the field goal unit was already running onto the field.
As a result, the Lions had too many men on the field when the next Detroit snap occurred. The penalty was only for 5 yards but also required a 10-second runoff on the clock.
The half expired with the Lions not cutting into the Buccaneers 7-point lead.
During end of the half interview with Fox Sports sideline reporter Laura Okmin, Lions head coach Dan Campbell took full responsibility for the mistake. He again held himself accountable in front of reporters after the game.
“Their coach cost them. Their head coach cost them this one,” Dan Campbell told the media. “Critical error at the end of the half. One-hundred percent on me. We improved, there’s areas where we need to continue to improve on, but it’s not okay.”
The Lions had a chance to take the lead twice late in the fourth quarter. But they failed to score a touchdown on both occasions.
If the Lions had made a field goal at the end of the first half, they would have only needed another field goal instead of a touchdown to take the lead at the end of the fourth quarter.
