Jahmyr Gibbs was offered oxygen on the bench after a 78-yard run.
He turned it down.
Clearly, he was not out of breath.
Photo: David Reginek-Imagn Images
Gibbs on Monday scored on a long sprint in the second quarter, a five-yard spinning plunge in the third and accounted for a career-high 218 yards from the scrimmage to lead the Detroit Lions in a 24-9 win over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
“You felt like this was coming,” Detroit coach Dan Campbell said. “This has been building.”
The Lions (5-2) bounced back from a loss as they have done flawlessly for nearly three years, extending their NFL-long streak of 51 games without dropping two straight in the regular season.
“The guys responded, which I knew they would,” Campbell said.
Tampa Bay (5-2) were outgained by more than 200 yards in the first half, but trailed 14-3 because Detroit had an interception, fumble, turned it over on downs and missed a field goal.
Rookie Tez Johnson had a 22-yard touchdown reception to open the second half, pulling the Bucs within five points, but they could not slow down Gibbs.
On the ensuing drive, Gibbs had a 15-yard run and a 28-yard reception to set up his second touchdown that gave the Lions a 21-9 lead late in the third quarter.
The third-year running back finished with a season-high 136 yards rushing on 17 carries and a season-high 82 yards receiving on three catches, giving him a total that trails just four performances for the franchise this century.
Gibbs is the first NFL player with at least 135 yards rushing and 80 yards receiving along with two scores on the ground since Chris Johnson pulled off the feat with Tennessee in 2009.
“He’s a very talented running back and when you miss a gap, he can turn it into a big play,” Bucs coach Todd Bowles said.
Detroit’s Jared Goff was 20 of 29 for 241 yards with a 27-yard touchdown pass to Amon-Ra St Brown on the game’s opening drive. Goff, though, lost a fumble and overthrew rookie receiver Isaac TeSlaa on fourth-and-two on the next two possessions and later threw an interception — all in Tampa Bay territory.
Baker Mayfield was 28 of 50 for 228 yards with one touchdown and one interception against a short-handed defense.
Mayfield threw an incomplete pass in the end zone with 4 minutes, 24 seconds left, ending potential comeback hopes.
“As a skill group, we didn’t connect on a lot of plays,” Mayfield said. “Once the defense knows we are going to have to pass, they can pin their ears back. That’s not a fair situation to the offensive line.”
Gibbs took advantage of a big hole and his speed to score on a career-long, 78-yard run late in the second quarter to put Detroit ahead 14-0.
“If you can get him to second level, he can do the rest,” Campbell said.
After Detroit’s Jake Bates missed a 54-yard field goal, Chase McLaughlin made a 53-yard field goal to end the half and put the Bucs on the scoreboard.
Bates did connect on a 58-yard field goal early in the fourth, knocking it in off an upright, to give the Lions a 24-9 lead.
“They are a tough matchup for every team right now,” Bowles said. “We know about the loud crowd. We just didn’t execute, but they played a very good game.”
Elsewhere, Zach Charbonnet scored on a pair of short runs as the Seattle Seahawks defeated the visiting Houston Texans 27-19.
Jaxon Smith-Njigba recorded his third straight 100-yard receiving game (eight catches, 123 yards) and scored on a pass from Sam Darnold.
C.J. Stroud threw a four-yard pass to running back Woody Marks with 2:04 remaining to give the Texans (2-4) their lone offensive touchdown, but Seattle was able to run out the clock.
Stroud completed 23 of 49 passing for 229 yards with one touchdown and one interception. He also led the Texans with 25 rushing yards on two attempts. Tight end Dalton Schultz made nine catches for 98 yards.
Darnold finished 17 of 31 for 213 yards with one touchdown pass and one interception. Kenneth Walker III rushed for 66 yards on 17 attempts, and Charbonnet added 49 yards on 12 carries.
Additional reporting by Reuters
The pressure was already on Real Madrid coach Xabi Alonso before their 2-1 defeat to Manchester City on Wednesday in the UEFA Champions League raised further questions about his future. Arsenal remain perfect in this season’s competition and three points clear at the top of the standings after a 3-0 win against Club Brugge, while defending champions Paris Saint-Germain were held 0-0 at Athletic Bilbao. The clash between Madrid and City was the standout game of the round amid reports this week that Alonso had lost control of the locker room. Speculation over his position is likely to intensify after the latest
‘HIGH STANDARD’: The Thunder are on track for a Finals-Cup double after they scored 22 three-pointers in equaling the best 25-game start to a season in NBA history The Oklahoma City Thunder on Wednesday bagged a 16th straight victory, thrashing the Phoenix Suns 138-89 to romp into an NBA Cup semi-final clash with the San Antonio Spurs, who stunned the Los Angeles Lakers 132-119. NBA Most Valuable Player Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored 28 points to lead the reigning NBA champions Thunder, who improved to 24-1 to equal the best 25-game start to a season in league history. They dominated from start to finish to book their place in the final four of the in-season tournament in Las Vegas, where they are tomorrow to take on the Spurs. The New York Knicks and
The Kashima Antlers won a record-extending ninth Japanese title on the final day of the J. League season yesterday, holding their nerve to beat the Yokohama F. Marinos 2-1. Watched by Brazilian legend and former player Zico, the Antlers went into the game at their packed home stadium with a one-point lead over Kashiwa Reysol in the table. A goal in either half from Brazilian striker Leo Ceara put the Antlers in control, but Yokohama struck in the first of five minutes of second-half injury time to set up a nail-biting finale, with Reysol winning their game 1-0. The Antlers saw out the
Tony Jefferson intercepted a Jalen Hurts pass in overtime to give the Los Angeles Chargers a 22-19 victory over the Philadelphia Eagles on Monday in an NFL thriller between playoff contenders. Justin Herbert, playing a week after surgery on his broken left (non-throwing) hand, withstood a career-high seven sacks to throw for 139 yards and a touchdown for the Chargers. Cameron Dicker kicked five field goals, including the 54-yard game winner in overtime. The Chargers defenders forced Hurts to throw four interceptions and surrender a fumble for a career-worst five turnovers as the Eagles fell to 8-5 with a third
RSS