OPPONENT: Detroit Lions

WHERE: Ford Field in Detroit, Michigan

WHERE THE LIONS STAND: The Lions are 0-10 and in last place in the NFC North division.

LIONS HEAD COACH: Ron Marinelli

LIONS OFFENSIVE COORDINATOR: Jim Colletto

LIONS DEFENSIVE COORDINATOR: Joe Barry

LIONS SPECIAL TEAMS COACH: Stan Kwan

TAMPA BAY BUCCANEERS OFFENSE
OVERALL: 9th (352 ypg)
RUSHING: 14th (115 ypg)
PASSING: 8th (237 ypg)

TAMPA BAY BUCCANEERS DEFENSE
OVERALL: 5th (282 ypg)
RUSHING: 12th (99 ypg)
PASSING: 4th (182 ypg)

DETROIT LIONS OFFENSE
OVERALL: 28th (277 ypg)
RUSHING: 31st (81 ypg)
PASSING: 22nd (196 ypg)

DETROIT LIONS DEFENSE
OVERALL: 31st (402 ypg)
RUSHING: 32nd (172 ypg)
PASSING: 23rd (230 ypg)

DID YOU KNOW ...
... Detroit ranks tied for 28th in the NFL with a minus-7 turnover ratio?

SCOUTING THE LIONS

Quarterbacks
Detroit has received suspect play from its quarterbacks this season, which is one of the biggest reasons why the Lions currently own the worst record (0-10) in the NFL.

The Lions have played Jon Kitna, Drew Stanton and Dan Orlovsky, but to no avail. Kitna is on injured reserve. Detroit's latest experiment at quarterback is Daunte Culpepper, who was lured out of retirement a few weeks ago in hopes of pumping some much-needed life into Detroit's lackluster offense.

Culpepper has completed 25-of-45 (55.6 percent) of his passes for 311 yards and tossed one touchdown and three interceptions. While he still has a strong arm, a bout with a serious knee injury has limited the former first-round draft pick's scrambling ability, but Culpepper still is tough to bring down.

Running Backs
The Lions fired offensive coordinator Mike Martz during the offseason and replaced him with Jim Colletto, whose offense features a zone-blocking scheme. Detroit is averaging just 81 yards rushing per contest, but Tampa Bay can't afford to take this group lightly. In the Bucs' meeting with the Lions last season, Detroit produced 147 yards rushing en route to a 23-16 win over Tampa Bay.

Rookie RB Kevin Smith leads Detroit's ground attack. The Lions running backs haven't performed well in the zone-blocking scheme, but Smith has been an exception. The former third-round draft pick thrived in a zone scheme at UCF, and he's played fairly well in Detroit, rushing 117 times for 513 yards (4.4 avg.) and five touchdowns. Detroit RB Rudi Johnson is a bigger body used in short-yardage and goal line situations. He's averaging 3.1 yards per carry on 69 attempts for 217 yards.

Tampa Bay's defense is one of the best in the NFL when it comes to stopping the run. The Bucs have allowed only one 100-yard rusher through 10 games. That came against another rookie, Jamaal Charles, and the 1-9 Kansas City Chiefs two weeks ago. The Bucs held Vikings RB Adrian Peterson to 85 yards rushing last week, but they cannot afford to enter this game overconfident.

Receivers
Culpepper has the arm to hit second-year WR Calvin Johnson deep downfield. The 6-foot-5, 235-pound receiver has hauled in a team-leading 45 passes for 839 yards (18.6 avg.). Detroit's offense has scored a total of 19 touchdowns this season, and Johnson has accounted for seven of them.

Tampa Bay's defense prides itself on preventing the big play, but former Bucs defensive line coach and current Lions head coach Rod Marinelli knows how to attack defensive coordinator Monte Kiffin's Tampa 2 defense. The Bucs have uncharacteristically allowed dozens of plays that have produced 20-plus yards this season. Tampa Bay cornerback Ronde Barber still is looking for his first interception of the season. He is familiar with Culpepper's tendencies from when the two used to meet twice a year as members of the NFC Center division. Barber would like to come up with an interception, but his first priority must be defending the deep part of the field and Johnson, a former first-round pick.

The good news for Tampa Bay is Detroit decided to trade WR Roy Williams to Dallas last month. Lions WR Shaun McDonald has caught 29 passes for 267 yards and one touchdown, but he probably would be more productive if Detroit's offensive line were better in pass protection. McDonald likely will be matched up with Bucs CB Phillip Buchanon.

Tampa Bay middle linebacker Barrett Ruud is having a Pro Bowl-caliber season. He played extremely well vs. Peterson last week, and although it will be important for him to defend the run on Sunday, Ruud could also be called on to help defend Lions tight ends John Owens and Michael Gaines, who has 19 catches for 192 yards. Should Gaines catch the ball, Ruud and Co. will need to tackle him and attempt to force him to fumble. He has three fumbles this season.

Bucs outside linebackers Cato June and Derrick Brooks likely will get a lot of work in the passing game, where Smith is featured quite a bit on swing and screen passes. Smith has good hands, evidenced by his 27 receptions for 212 yards.

The Lions haven't been able to feature a lot of three-receiver sets due to pass protection, but when that does happen WR Mike Furrey likely will take the field, which would call for Bucs rookie CB Aqib Talib, who leads the team in interceptions with three, to enter the lineup. Furrey has 18 catches for 181 yards this season.

Offensive Line
While it has been solid against the run, Tampa Bay's defensive line has been inconsistent in terms of getting after the quarterback. The Bucs have 20 sacks through 10 games. Five of those came against the Vikings last week.

Tampa Bay defensive ends Kevin Carter, Greg White and Gaines Adams, and defensive tackles Jovan Haye, Chris Hovan and Ryan Sims should be able to pressure Culpepper on a consistent basis. Detroit's offensive line has played poorly, surrendering 37 sacks through 10 games.

Lions left tackle Jeff Backus is one of Detroit's better linemen, but by default. He no longer holds up well on an island, which is why Detroit oftentimes leaves a tight end in to help him block. Adams, who has four sacks, must win one-on-one matchups with Backus. Carter, White and defensive lineman Jimmy Wilkerson, who have accounted for 8.5 of the team's 20 sacks, should be able to exploit Lions right tackle Gosder Cherilus, a 2008 first-round draft pick. Detroit left guard Edwin Mulitalo and center Dominic Raiola will spend quite a bit of time going up against Hovan and Sims. That should put Haye in a one-on-one matchup with Lions right guard Stephen Peterman. Haye still is looking for his first sack of the season, and he might be able to come up with it vs. Peterman, a 6-foot-4, 323-pound third-year player.

Defensive Line
The bad news for the Bucs is they will be without Earnest Graham for this game and possibly the entire season due to an ankle injury he sustained vs. Minnesota. The good news is Tampa Bay will face the 32nd-ranked run defense in the NFL on Sunday in Detroit.

The Bucs will rely heavily on running back Warrick Dunn, rookie Clifton Smith and Cadillac Williams, who will see his first action game action since he sustained a torn patellar tendon in Week 4 of the 2007 season.

Tampa Bay's ability to run the ball vs. Detroit will depend on what type of push its offensive line generates in the trenches. In addition to former Bucs defensive line coach Rod Marinelli being Detroit's head coach, former Bucs linebackers coach Joe Barry is the Lions defensive coordinator. Barry has watched his defense surrender 172 yards rushing per game.

The Lions might stack the box and dare quarterback Jeff Garcia and the Buccaneers to throw the football. If that scenario unfolds, Tampa Bay's O-line will have to keep defenders off of Garcia. The Bucs have surrendered just 10 sacks this season, but the Lions have registered 17 quarterback takedowns.

Detroit's defensive line features two former Bucs players in nose tackle Chuck Darby and right defensive end Dewayne White. Although he's a starter on the right side, White has the ability to rush from both end spots, which means Bucs tackles Donald Penn and Jeremy Trueblood have their work cut out for them. In their meeting last year, the Bucs allowed White to sack Garcia three times. White leads the Lions in sacks this season with 5.5. He also has three forced fumbles.

When White is rushing from the right end spot, he'll face Penn, who has excelled in pass protection this year. That would leave Jared DeVries, who has two sacks, to go up against Trueblood.

Although Lions under tackle Cory Redding has recorded three sacks, he has struggled mightily vs. the run, which is good news for Bucs right guard Davin Joseph, who is a good run blocker. That will leave left guard Arron Sears and center Jeff Faine in charge of blocking Darby, who is a good player but undersized, which should allow Tampa Bay's offensive line to open up some running lanes for Dunn, Smith and Williams.

Linebackers
This is a group Bucs head coach Jon Gruden likely will attempt to attack with his playcalling, especially in the passing game. Detroit's defense is allowing teams to convert 40 percent of their third down attempts. Lions linebackers Ernie Sims, Paris Lenon and former Bucs LB Ryan Nece have struggled in pass protection. Last year, Graham caught 13 passes vs. the Lions, and Dunn and tight ends Jerramy Stevens and John Gilmore could be called on quite often in the passing game. Sims is probably the best player of this group. He plays with a high motor and leads the team in tackles and has three tackles for a loss. Tampa Bay's running backs must protect the ball in this contest. Last year, the Bucs had two costly fumbles vs. the Lions en route to a 23-16 loss. Sims and Co. likely will attempt to force some much-needed turnovers in this game.

Secondary
Garcia completed 37-of-45 passes for 316 yards and tossed two touchdowns and no interceptions vs. his former team last year, but it wasn't good enough to beat the Lions. Garcia will also face a revamped Lions secondary, which features former Bucs cornerback Brian Kelly and former Bucs strong safety Dwight Smith as starters. This group is also coached by former Bucs assistant defensive backs coach Jimmy Lake.

Unfortunately for Detroit, the free agent acquisitions of Kelly, Smith, CB Leigh Bodden and reserve S Kalvin Pearson, who is also a former Buc, have not helped the Lions, who have just two interceptions through 10 games.

But that doesn't mean Detroit's secondary isn't capable of creating turnovers. Kelly has 22 career interceptions and Bodden recorded six picks as a member of the Browns last year. They will cover Bucs wide receivers Antonio Bryant and Michael Clayton. Bryant has emerged as Garcia's primary target. He has 50 catches for 625 yards (12.5 avg.) and two touchdowns this season. Bryant likely will be matched up with Kelly, who is a physical corner. The Lions could double team Bryant, which should allow Clayton to have a productive game.

Should the Bucs feature three-receiver sets, speed WR Joey Galloway and possession WR Ike Hilliard are candidates to see game action vs. Detroit nickel CB Travis Fisher. Safeties Daniel Bullocks and Smith have had to spend too much time defending near the line of scrimmage to help Detroit's suspect run defense. That could really open up things for Galloway in terms of the deep passing game.

Special Teams
Detroit's best offensive weapon might be kicker Jon Hanson, who has made 13-of-14 (92.9 percent) of his field goals, including 6-of-6 from 50-plus yards. Punter Nick Harris is averaging 43.6 yards per punt and has pinned 17 of his 57 attempts inside the 20-yard line. They will be kicking to rookie return specialist Clifton Smith, who is averaging 31.1 yards per kickoff return and 15.6 yards per punt return. Smith has a 97-yard kickoff return for a touchdown, but he also has some fumbling issues that need to be corrected.

Lions return specialist Brandon Middleton is averaging 22.2 yards per attempt. The team is using WR Shaun McDonald on punt returns. He's averaging a respectable 10.1 yards per return. Tampa Bay's special teams coverage units have been solid, but lost a key contributor, rookie linebacker Geno Hayes, to a knee injury vs. the Vikings last week. This group cannot afford to give a struggling Lions offense a short field to work with.

FLYNN'S FORECAST: Buccaneers 23 Lions 10

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