Sunday afternoon presents a big test for Bucs head coach Todd Bowles. Not only is Tampa Bay playing a 4-1 Lions team, they are playing one backed by a lethal offense that is currently averaging 29.6 points per game. This comes after a 2022 season in which they averaged 26.6 points per contest, propelling offensive coordinator Ben Johnson into being mentioned as a potential head-coaching coaching in 2024.

It is an offense that in recent seasons has been overhauled with an influx of young talent at the skill positions as well as the reemergence of a quarterback that at one point was seen as nothing more than a stopgap.

Todd Bowles Discusses The Lions’ Offense – Powered By Jared Goff

Lions QB Jared Goff – Photo by: USA Today

Taken with the first overall pick by the Rams in 2016, Lions quarterback Jared Goff has been on an NFL career roller coaster. After struggling his rookie year with an 0-7 record, Goff looked like a different quarterback after Sean McVay was hired in 2017.

Goff made two Pro Bowls and led the Rams to the Super Bowl in 2018, although he and the team fell to Tom Brady and the Patriots. After that, he was not viewed as someone who could be a Super Bowl-winning quarterback.

After finishing out the 2020 season in Los Angeles, he packed his bags for Motown as the Rams swapped him out for Matthew Stafford.

Now, Goff is viewed as one of the biggest parts of the vehicle that has the Lions revving their way toward another winning season and a potential playoff spot.

“I mean, he is the engine that makes it go over there,” Todd Bowles said of Goff. “He has been playing great ball. As you get experience in the league – not turning the ball over, throwing touchdowns, commanding the offense. He was always very accurate. He is a competitor. He is playing great for them.”

After a 2021 season that saw Goff throw for 4,438 yards and 29 touchdowns with just seven interceptions, he has maintained that level of play through the first five games. He has become even more efficient, completing 69.8% of his throws and having a 3:1 touchdown-to-interception ratio. Still only 29 years old, Goff is well on his way to proving his doubters wrong.

Lions TE Sam LaPorta – Photo by: USA Today

If Goff is the engine, tight end Sam LaPorta is part of the transmission for the way he switches gears and provides power to the rest of the offense. LaPorta, the team’s second-round pick, already looks to be establishing himself as another top-tier tight end from Iowa (see George Kittle and T.J. Hockenson).

Through five games, LaPorta already has 25 receptions for 289 yards and three touchdowns, with two of them coming in last week’s 42-24 win over the Panthers. It is clear that he can do it all, and Todd Bowles does not view him as a newbie.

“Well, he’s tough, Bowles added. “He doesn’t play like a rookie, he plays like a six-year pro. He can block very well, he runs routes like wideouts, he has great hands, he’s got good run-after-catch. By no means is he playing like a rookie. He is playing good football.”

Detroit, Michigan is known for being the introduction of the assembly line in the days of Henry Ford and the Model T – now it is home to a Lions’ offense that has just as many players contributing to their high-point outputs.

How can the Bucs’ defense stop them?

By playing disciplined football.

“Just be very disciplined, Bowles said. “Obviously, we’ve got to make plays to win the ballgame, but be very disciplined because they can hurt you either way.”