Detroit Lions vs Tampa Bay Buccaneers: Week 16 Game Preview

Three Detroit Lions to watch in their Week 16 matchup with the Buccaneers.

I spoke with Luke Easterling of The Bucs Wire and The Draft Wire earlier this week to get his thoughts on this week’s matchup. Based on this chat and some early research, here are some Lions players to watch during the matchup with the Buccaneers in Week 16.

Cornerbacks/Linebackers, Detroit – So I cheated here. In all honesty, all three of the Detroit Lions cornerbacks could be in trouble this week against Tom Brady, Mike Evans, Chris Godwin, Antonio Brown, and Rob Gronkowski.

“The Lions don’t do a single thing well on defense. They don’t rush the passer great, they are not stout against the run and they don’t force turnovers.” – Dave Birkett of The Detroit Free Press

Evans will primarily be paired up with Amani Oruwariye, Godwin, with Justin Coleman (who rank at No. 79 and No. 80 respectively in coverage according to playerprofile.com).

I think it’s Brown or Gronk that shine the most on Saturday, especially if they’re covered by any of the so-called Lions “linebackers.”

Running Back, D’Andre Swift – As previously mentioned, the Tampa Bay run defense is good. They’re ranked first overall in the NFL in terms of stopping the run. D’Andre Swift, however, has been solid for Detroit when healthy. The former Georgia Bulldog has 422-yards rushing, 316-yards receiving, and seven rushing touchdowns in 2020.

He’s also averaging 4.6 yards-per-carry and actually ranks No. 5 in the league in terms of breakaway run rate (number of carries that go for 15 yards or more) according to playerprofile.com.

The Buccaneers may end up with the upper hand here at the end of the day, especially if the starting center, Ragnow, misses the game. He has, however, returned to practice this week.

Only time will tell.