Detroit Lions at Tampa Bay Buccaneers Preview

By John Onan | Saturday, October 01, 2005 | ( 0 )

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Coming off a bye week that they used to regroup from a terrible loss to the Chicago Bears, the Detroit Lions hit the road again to face one of the most surprising teams in the NFL. The Tampa Bay Buccaneers are off to a 3-0 start after winning a hard fought battle in Green Bay 17-16 over the Packers. The win put them atop the NFC South standings.

Rookie running back Cadillac Williams once again carried a big chunk of the load for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, setting an NFL record by beginning his career with three straight 100-yard rushing performances. His 434 yards in those games also broke a 50-year old record previously held by Alan Ameche.

For the Detroit Lions, quarterback Joey Harrington has once again found himself in the doghouse after being intercepted five times in the loss to the Bears two weeks ago. The week before, it appeared as if he had silenced some of his critics after a solid outing in the team's opening day win over the Packers.

Detroit, like Tampa, will attempt to get their running back, Kevin Jones, involved early to hopefully take the heat off Harrington. The Lions' preseason struggles protecting their quarterback resurfaced in a big way against the Bears, and the Tampa defensive front has been one of the toughest in the league thus far. It won't be easy to run the ball successfully, as the Bucs boast the top ranked run defense through the first three games.

Offensively, Williams may be the focus, but Tampa field general Brian Greise has also been efficient thus far. He is completing nearly two-thirds of his passes for 488 yards with four touchdowns and three interceptions. And with Lions cornerback Fernando Bryant being placed on injured reserve for the rest of the year with a shoulder injury, Tampa Bay will be looking to take advantage downfield with wide receivers Michael Clayton and Joey Galloway.

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