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Detroit offense vs. Tampa Bay defense

	LIONS OFFENSE
	Ranking in the NFL:
	Run	27
	Pass	9
	Tot. Yds.	15
	Scoring	7
	Int's allowed	9
	Sacks allowed	45
	BUCCANEERS DEFENSE
	Ranking in the NFL:
	vs. Run	4
	vs. Pass	4
	Total yds. allowed	3
	# of Ints.	17
	# of Sacks	34
	Turnover differential	-6

The Lions continue to find ways to score points without the benefit of a running game. Although the offensive line isn't providing gaping holes, RB Greg Hill is clearly not shifty enough to setup blocks or find cutback lanes. Tampa's run defense is holding opponents to a mere 83.8 yards per game but Hill did have his best game of the season (16 att., 123 yds.) in the first meeting between these teams. Since then, Hill has managed just 144 yards on 61 carries (2.4 avg.) in the past five games and he needs to start pushing seams more to find openings. Hill's demise is completely unacceptable considering the efficiency of the passing game should be softening up opposing run defenses. The Lions had great success targeting the middle of the Buccaneer defense on draw plays, holding Pro Bowl DT Warren Sapp without a tackle in his worst effort of the season. Sapp was limited in what he could do in terms of shedding blocks because of a broken hand but the injury is now completely healed and he will be more of a force on Sunday.

Although it's still unclear who will start at quarterback, Head Coach Bobby Ross is leaning towards Charlie Batch. If Batch can grip the ball enough to make all the throws, he will definitely be on the field despite Gus Frerotte's recent success. The Lions executed a very conservative game plan in the Week 8 meeting but look for them to open things up a little more with WR Herman Moore regaining his feel for the game. Although he hasn't played the past 18 quarters, Batch shouldn't be as rusty as expected. He's been able to maintain his footwork and work some of the short and intermediate passing game in practice, which should enable him to be fairly sharp against the Bucs. The Vikings moved the ball through the air last Monday but the Bucs were able to make key plays on the ball in critical situations. Having seen a great deal of multiple-receiver sets last week will help Tampa in their preparation for Sunday's game. Tampa's front four should be able to get to Batch so he must get rid of the ball quickly, hitting big receivers Moore and Germaine Crowell on slants and hitch patterns. One thing Batch must be aware of on the hitch routes is the possibility of DCs Donnie Abraham and Ronde Barber coming hard off the edge on blitzes. Minnesota QB Jeff George ignored their charge last week and had one pass intercepted and returned for a touchdown after an athletic play by Abraham.

Tampa Bay offense vs. Detroit defense

	BUCCANEERS OFFENSE
	Ranking in the NFL:
	Run	10
	Pass	30
	Tot. Yds.	28
	Scoring	25
	Int's allowed	13
	Sacks allowed	24
	LIONS DEFENSE
	Ranking in the NFL:
	vs. Run	6
	vs. Pass	29
	Total yds. allowed	21
	# of Ints.	10
	# of Sacks	39
	Turnover differential	+9

Rookie QB Shaun King fulfilled the coaching staff's expectations in the team's Monday night victory over division-rival Minnesota. Much has been made King's poise and intelligence but it's hard to ignore those rare traits in such a young signal-caller. King completed 11-of-19 passes in a tightly called game by Offensive Coordinator Mike Shula but they'll need to open things up more this week against one of the better defenses in the league. Tampa got by last week with dump-offs to the running backs and short crossing routes but they'll need to attack deep to prevent the Lions from crowding the line of scrimmage to stop the run. Enough can't be said about the performance of Detroit's front four last week against Washington. The Lions sacked Brad Johnson five times and that total could have been even higher had Johnson been flagged for a couple of obvious grounding penalties. An encouraging sign for Defensive Coordinator Larry Peccatiello is that his unit is getting consistent pressure without committing any linebackers to the blitz. To that point, Detroit's starting front four has 25 of the club's 38 sacks on the year. LB's Chris Claiborne and Stephen Boyd are doing a fine job of getting depth in their drops and making plays in coverage, which will be essential this week against the Bucs intermediate passing game. With Eric Zeier at quarterback, the Buccaneers completed 29 passes in the meeting at Detroit but 11 went to RB Warrick Dunn on inconsequential underneath routes that resulted in a mere 77 yards. WR Jacquez Green continues to make things happen but the team desperately needs Bert Emmanuel to contribute some big plays. Emmanuel has replaced disappointing Reidel Anthony in the lineup but his contribution (2 rec., 12 yds.) was minimal against the Vikings.

The Buccaneers have made two recent changes that have improved the consistency of their running game. New additions LOG Kevin Dogins and FB Kevin McLeod have made a difference the past couple of weeks, allowing the Bucs to control the clock with Mike Alstott (23 att., 95 yds.) in the team's win over Minnesota. Head Coach Tony Dungy expects RB Warrick Dunn to return from a sprained ankle that kept him out last week. Dunn tested the ankle in pre-game warm-ups but it was too stiff for him to make his cuts. Look for the Bucs to again use Dunn in more of a receiving role, while McLeod and Alstott pound the Lions out of the "elephant" formation. Detroit's front seven rendered Washington RB Stephen Davis a non-factor in last Sunday's 33-17 victory, holding him to just 51 yards on 12 carries. The Lions did an excellent job last time out against Alstott (10 att., 32 yds.) and they'll again need strong play from DTs James Jones and Luther Ellis, a pair that has been dominating the past two weeks.

Special teams

	NFL RANK
	Category	DET	TB
	Punt return avg.	12	18
	Kickoff return avg.	21	15
	Opp. punt return avg.	19	6
	Opp. kickoff ret. avg.	14	3
	Time of possession	21	4

The addition of RS Desmond Howard electrified the Silverdome crowd last week on his 68-yard return late in the second quarter. Despite not having practiced with the team, Howard proved what he is capable of with a better scheme than he had in Green Bay. For Tampa, PR Karl Williams had the opposite effect, costing his team seven points with a fumble deep in Bucs territory. Both return teams are capable of breaking the big play so look for very disciplined play from the coverage units. Detroit was reckless and ignored assignments on a kickoff last week against the Redskins and James Thrash made them pay with a 95-yard kickoff return. Conversely, Tampa's Jeff Gooch came up with a huge hit on ex-Buc Yo Murphy, setting up the offense for an easy score. This one will probably come down to which team executes best in the kicking game, where both Detroit's Jason Hansen and Tampa's Martin Grammatica are capable from beyond 50 yards. Last week, Hansen became just the sixth kicker in league history to nail more than one 50-yarder in two different games.

Key matchups