The wins just keep coming for the Tampa bay Buccaneers as the Bucs went on the road and took care of the Detroit Lions 38-17 to get their fourth win a row and get their record to 7-7 on the season with two games to play.
The Buccaneers took a 21-0 lead just before halftime and led the Lions 21-3 at the half.
It was a record setting day for Jameis Winston as he ended the afternoon 28/42 for 456 yards, four touchdowns and one interception.
Winston becomes the first quarterback in NFL history to pass for over 450 yards in consecutive games. Winston also had 221 yards passing in the first quarter which was the most passing yards in the first quarter of a game in 40 years.
Winston accomplished all this while nursing a fractured hand and wearing a special brace on his hand.
Winston has 30 touchdowns and 24 interceptions on the season and has a chance to lead the NFL in passing yards which would be a first for a Buccaneer quarterback.
With the four touchdown passes, Winston becomes the franchise leader in Touchdown passes with 30 surpassing his previous record of 28 set in 2016.
With this performance against the Lions, it is looking more and more like Winston will be back for the Buccaneers in 2020 probably on a one year franchise tag deal which would pay Winston $25-$28 million dollars.
Winston speaking to the media after the game said he hopes he has done enough to stay in Tampa. “I hope I’ve helped myself, because I definitely want to be here in Tampa. “We just have to finish strong and that’s all we can focus on is week to week.”
This game was not without its a share of adversity and the injuries continued to pile up for the Buccaneers.
Wide receivers Chris Godwin, and Scotty Miller both left the game with injuries and it does not look good for them to play on Saturday afternoon against the Houston Texans.
The Bucs were also without their number one receiver Mike Evans who injured his hamstring in the game against the Colts on December 7th.
With their top two receivers out, the Bucs turned to Breshad Perriman who had his first 100 yard receiving game of his career with five catches for 113 yards and three touchdowns.
The rookie from Bowling Green, Scotty Miller caught his first careertouchdown pass before leaving with the hamstring injury.
Winston distributed the ball to 11 different receivers who all contributed in the win against the Lions.
Donavan Smith missed this game with his injury, but could be back this week against the Texans. Josh Wells started in place of Smith and did a decent job.
With the 38 points the Bucs scored against the Lions, they have now scored 416 points this season which is a new Buccaneer record for points scored in a season surpassing the 396 scored by the Team in 2018.
Defensively, this team just continues to get better and better game by game. Linebacker Shaq Barrett recorded a sack in the first quarter giving him 16.5 on the season tying Warren Sapp for the all-time Buccaneer season sack record.
With two games left on the season, it is quite likely that Barrett will set a new Buccaneer single season sack record.
Barrett is on a one year deal in Tampa and coach Bruce Arians was not having nay talk of Barrett going anywhere else. “He ain’t going anywhere.” Arians said.
According to Spotrac, Barrett should be in line for a four year $63 million dollar deal which would break down to around $16 Million a season.
The Bucs defense is giving up an average of 282 yards a game to the opposition over the last three games.
Another pivotal moment in the game came in the fourth quarter when the Lions had cut the lead to 24-17 and were driving down the field when Sean Murphy Bunting took a David Blough pass 70 yards for a touchdown to put the Bucs up 31-17 and that helped clinch the win for the Bucs.
The Bucs finish the season with a 5-3 record on the road and will look to go above .500 on the season with a win at home on Saturday against the Houston Texans.
