Although the 20-16 win by the Bucs over the Lions will go down as a colossal victory and a potential stepping stone to greater accomplishments, it wasn’t the prettiest of triumphs. This was a hard-nosed, gut-it-out type of win, and that’s okay.

The Bucs don’t need style points to prove that they belong with the the best of the NFC.

Tampa Bay had to put some duct tape around their game plan to come together and succeed, but ultimately they left Detroit with what they came for – a 2-0 start.

There was no All-Pro safety Antoine Winfield Jr. in this game due to his ankle sprain. Right tackle Luke Goedeke was out due to a concussion. First-round defensive tackle Calijah Kancey wasn’t available either due to a calf injury. Then they lost stud defensive tackle Vita Vita to a knee injury that kept him out for the second half.

Yet the Bucs didn’t waiver, battening down the hatches in the red zone and making Detroit settle for field goals instead of touchdowns. So what was the team’s formula for success?

Todd Bowles Reacts To Gigantic Win For Bucs

“It was tough, it was gritty,” head coach Todd Bowles said after the game. “It took a lot of guys, it took a lot of effort. They played on the same page. They understood the assignment. They carried it out. They made some great underneath tackles to save us some touchdowns and have them kick field goals.”

Bucs safety Christian Izien – Photo by: USA Today

The win also wouldn’t be possible without the Bucs’ secondly as they had tight coverage all game. Their biggest moments came on interceptions from Zyon McCollum and Christian Izien. Safety Jordan Whitehead was arguably the best player on defense on Sunday besides McCollum, too.

“Between that and the red zone on defense, that was the tale of the tape right there,” Bowles said. “We were pretty good in the red zone, we were pretty good – we won the turnover battle, I think. They made a lot of plays, it was a fight to the end and we made the plays to win the game.”

Without having Luke Goedeke starting at right tackle, the Bucs were devoured by Lions edge rusher Aidan Hutchinson, recording 4.5 sacks. But that wasn’t enough for the Lions to get the job done.

The Bucs couldn’t run the ball much outside of some scrambles by Baker Mayfield. In the first half, Chris Godwin accounted for almost all of the receiving yards at 117 and was the only one on Mayfield’s radar, scoring a touchdown. The second half told a different story as Godwin didn’t record another catch, but finally Mike Evans and others got involved.

It was a patchwork job all across the board in every single phase. At the end of it, the Bucs were able to get some revenge on a team that previously had their number.

Group Effort Leads To Bucs’ 2-0 Start

“We showed a lot of fight,” Bucs head coach Todd Bowles said. “That’s a great team over there, we know they’re a great team. They’re a little undermanned, we were a little undermanned. It got us to 2-0. It was a big win, but it’s 2-0. My message was, ‘Enjoy the night, enjoy the flight back. We’ll grade the tape tomorrow morning. We’ve got to move on to Denver.’ We won the first two games last year and you see what happened after that. So, we understand that, we’re happy we won, it took a herculean effort on a lot of guys when a lot of guys went down and we’re pleased with the win.”

Bucs QB Baker Mayfield – Photo by: USA Today

The Bucs were undermanned, but more determined than ever.

“For starters, having a bunch of guys out, a lot of guys stepping up in a huge way,” Bucs quarterback Baker Mayfield said. “And for it to come down to critical moments in a really tight ball game and people – everybody stepping up is so big for everybody on this team.

“To stick together, obviously a bigger outcome than the last time we were here like you mentioned, but it’s a new season, still have a lot of games left, but for us, building chemistry and building this resiliency and the culture that we want, this is a huge win for us, and so we have to continue to build on that.

“Now, there’s a lot of stuff that we can fix. I said it on the field after the game, that’s completely on me on the last drive, not making them burn their last three timeouts before punting the ball. So, have to better in that aspect, but it’s always better to learn off of a win than it is a loss. So, yeah, continue to push forward and build on it.”