Lions kickoff pre-season with win over Bucs, lose Tate to broken collarbone - BionicBeard52's Dynasty

BionicBeard52's Dynasty Blog

Lions kickoff pre-season with win over Bucs, lose Tate to broken collarbone

Posted on January 29, 2017 at 01:14 PM.

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Tampa Bay Buccaneers at Detroit Lions
Jan 29, 2017	1ST	2ND	3RD	4TH	SCORE
Tampa Bay Buccaneers (0-1)	7	3	6	9	16
Detroit Lions (1-0)	10	7	0	14	31

Team Stats Comparison
	TAM	DET
Total Offense	331	359
Rushing Yards	101	102
Passing Yards	230	257
First Downs	15	16
Punt Return Yards	12	54
Kick Return Yards	0	99
Total Yards	343	512
Turnovers	2	4
3rd Down Converstion	7	7
4th Down Conversion	1	0
2-Point Conversion	0	0
Red Zone Touchdowns/Field Goals	1/1	2/1
Penalties
Posession Time	28:59	31:01

Tampa Bay Buccaneers
PASSING	C/A	YDS	TD	INT
J. Winston	7/11	84	1	0
M. Glennon	17/35	184	0	1
RUSHING	ATT	YDS	AVG	TD
R. Hansbrough	3	64	21.3	1
C. Sims III	9	18	2.0	0
D. Martin	5	16	3.2	0
M. Glennon	1	3	3.0	0
RECEIVING	REC	YDS	AVG	TD
C. Sims III	7	61	8.7	0
M. Wheaton	4	60	15.0	0
P. Prown	3	49	16.3	0
W. Corner(R)	3	25	8.3	0
L. Stocker	2	22	11.0	0
D. Mayberry(R)	2	32	16.0	0
M. Evans	1	9	9.0	0
R. Hansbrough	1	2	2.0	0
W. Snead IV	1	8	8.0	1
DEFENSE	TACK	SACK	INT	TD
P. Thompson	8	0	1	0
A. Verner	0	0	1	0
C. Maggitt	11	1	0	0
G. Johnson	1	1	0	0
L. David	6	0.5	0	0
K. Alexander	3	0.5	0	0
KICKING	FG	XP	PTS	LONG
R. Aguayo	1/2	1/2	4	36
PUNTING	NO	YDS	AVG	IN20
B. Anger	6	293	48.8	0

Detroit Lions
PASSING	C/A	YDS	TD	INT
M. Stafford	5/5	66	1	0
J. Rudock	25/32	217	1	2
RUSHING	ATT	YDS	AVG	TD
Z. Zenner	7	55	7.9	1
D. Washington	6	16	2.7	0
T. Riddick	5	11	2.2	0
D. Sheffield(R)	5	10	2.0	0
J. Rudock	1	6	6.0	0
A. Abdullah	2	4	2.0	0
RECEIVING	REC	YDS	AVG	TD
B. Herrera(R)	6	59	9.8	0
C. Wick	5	57	11.4	0
T. Jones	4	22	5.5	0
T. Gabriel	4	50	12.5	1
G. Tate III	2	22	11.0	0
J.Billingsley	2	14	7.0	0
M. Henry	2	9	4.5	1
D. Sheffield(R)	2	23	11.5	0
Z. Zenner	1	3	3.0	0
E. Ebron	1	11	11.0	0
DEFENSE	TACK	SACK	INT	TD
K. White	1	0	1	1
E. Ansah	3	2	0	0
A. Zettel	2	1.5	0	0
A. Robinson	0	1	0	0
T. Whitehead	2	1	0	0
D. Taylor	1	0.5	0	0
KICKING	FG	XP	PTS	LONG
M. Prater	1/1	4/4	7	36
PUNTING	NO	YDS	AVG	IN20
S. Martin	3	155	51.7	1
KICK RETURN	RET	YDS	AVG	TD
T. Riddick	2	49	24.5	0
T. Gabriel	1	28	28.0	0
D. Sheffield	1	22	22.0	0
PUNT RETURN	RET	YDS	AVG	TD
T. Gabriel	2	52	26.0	0
D. Sheffield	1	2	2.0	0

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The Lions may have gotten the win in their pre-season matchup with Tampa Bay, but injury to star receiver Golden Tate overshadowed the victory. The veteran receiver suffered a broken collarbone on the first drive of Saturday night's pre-season game at Ford Field. While the the extent of the injury is not known yet, team doctors are saying the injury could take up to 8 weeks to heal.

Matthew Stafford didn't let Tate's injury slow down the starting offense as he led two scoring drives and went 5/5 for 66 yards. Stafford connected with newcomer Taylor Gabriel for a 32-yard scoring strike to finish his day. Gabriel also showed his playmaking ability later in the game with a nice punt return into Bucs territory. It will be interesting to see how Gabriel's role in the offense expands with Tate out of the lineup for the foreseeable future.

Aside from the passing game, Detroit continued to struggle rushing the ball and if not for a 44-yard TD run by Zach Zenner in the third quarter the stats would have looked much worse. The Lions are hoping 1st round draft pick Asher Fiammetta at guard can help open some holes in the running game this season. Neither Ameer Abdullah (4 yards) or Theo Riddick (11 yards) did much in their limited playing time.

The biggest positive from the game may have come on the defensive side of the ball as the Lions pass rush pressured both Jameis Winston and Mike Glennon for 6 sacks total. The Detroit defense also was able to stop the run for the most part, but did give up a long 52-yard TD run to Russell Hansbrough in the second half.

Overall, it was a good performance for the Lions in their first pre-season game as they look ahead to next week's game in D.C. against the Washington Redskins.

Head coach Jim Caldwell talked about his impressions on the game.

"You know I thought we played really well and executed at a high level," Caldwell said. "It's just pre-season, but I think our team was itching to play some real football again."

When asked about Tate's injury, coach Caldwell declined comment and said he would let the team's medical officials take care of that.