Lions top Bucs 27-20 in season-opener Roy Cummings, The Tampa Tribune, published 12 September 2011 When Lions quarterback Matthew Stafford walked off the field late Sunday, his jersey was still dripping with the sweat that had turned it a darker shade of blue, which is exactly what you'd expect on a day when the heat index at Raymond James Stadium pushed triple digits. What Stafford's jersey wasn't was dirty, grass stained or even snagged. After all the work they've done to improve their pass rush the past three years, the Buccaneers had reason to expect more dirt, more stains and more snags. Their inability to produce them factored heavily into a season-opening 27-20 loss. "We just weren't able to get there when he had the ball in his hands,'' Raheem Morris said of Stafford, who sliced up Tampa Bay's young defense in a methodical manner, completing 24 of 33 passes for 305 yards and three touchdowns. We got to him a little bit, but not enough, obviously.'' The past two years, the Bucs used their top four draft picks and five of eight premium picks — first-, second- and third-round selections — on defensive linemen. In its debut, though, the rebuilt line produced no sacks, no quarterback hits and no quarterback hurries. "Most of our guys, like me, are speed rushers,'' second-year defensive tackle Gerald McCoy said. "And what they did was take away our speed rush. And then, after we adjusted to it, they just started getting the ball out quicker against us. It was a tough deal.'' It was a tough deal for the Bucs offense, too. Unable to build a rhythm with the running or passing games, Tampa Bay foundered for the first three quarters, including gaining just 4 yards in the first quarter — the fourth-worst single-quarter output in team history. The offense eventually caught fire in the fourth quarter, but the best Tampa Bay could do was sandwich a touchdown between an 81-yard drive that was snuffed out at the Lions 11-yard line and a game-ending drive that concluded with the Bucs tossing the ball around like they were in a rugby game. "It's frustrating because we thought this was a winnable game,'' said Bucs quarterback Josh Freeman, who was forced by the slow start to spend most of the second half running the two-minute offense. "We were able to truly dictate the flow of the game (in the fourth quarter). We were able to move the ball and the chains. But at the beginning, I was on the field for like five plays (the first quarter), and that's tough. You have to be able to maximize your potential on first and second down so that you can stay out of third-and-long situations and keep your defense off the field.'' The Bucs need look no further for an example of how to do that than the Lions. By using mostly quick drops, Stafford neutralized the Bucs' pass rush and consistently got the ball into his playmakers hands. The Lions faced third-and-long — situations in which they needed to gain 6 yards or more — just five times in the first half. They converted two of those, setting up scores both times. Each of Detroit's five scoring drives was 70 yards or more, and the Lions' first touchdown came on a fourth-and-2 play from the Bucs 36-yard line when Stafford hit receiver Calvin Johnson. "We had a lot of opportunities to make plays, and we just didn't make them,'' cornerback Ronde Barber said. "And it wasn't even a case of winning on third down. We had to win on first and second down and we didn't.'' The Bucs held the Lions to just a field goal in the early going. That and two big plays allowed Tampa Bay to build a 10-3 first-quarter lead. The first was Sammie Stroughter's 78-yard kick return that set up a Connor Barth field goal. The second was cornerback Aqib Talib's interception of a Stafford pass that he returned 28 yards for a touchdown. Such a play usually shifts the momentum, but the Bucs failed to build anything off of Talib's pick as they gave up scores on five of the Lions' first seven possessions. Their inability to get to Stafford and get off the field played a huge role in those drives being extended, but Barber wasn't fretting the issue afterward. "This is Week 1,'' he said. "If all of this carries over into Week 2 we'll start to worry about it. But right now we're not going to dwell on it.'' Freeman appeared to be in agreement. Long after the game was over, after he'd exchanged his uniform for a tan suit, he stood at a lectern and echoed Barber's sentiments. "This is the first game of the year,'' he said. "It's not to make or break anything.''