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Shorter passes could be key for Lions against Bucs

ALLEN PARK, Mich. -- Matthew Stafford can typically know before he even steps on a field Sunday what type of day it might be. From his study of the opponent and his preparation during the week, he has an idea of what type of level his completion percentage might be at.

Will he be able to take bigger, longer shots with a potentially lower percentage? Or will he have the room to complete shorter passes but needing more sustained drives to score? So Stafford has already noticed -- from both prior experience playing Tampa Bay head coach Lovie Smith and also from watching film -- what type of day it might be.

There's a chance for a high completion percentage since opponents are completing 68.2 percent of passes against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers' defense, second-worst in the NFL. But just because the passes are there doesn't mean the large gains are.

"Guys have completed on a pretty high level on them, but they have been doing a pretty good job of making those completions short ones," Stafford said. "They are playing quite a bit of zone coverage and when you do that, there's usually guys that have space to catch the ball.

"This team is doing a great job of tackling guys after they catch [the ball]."

This means that for the Detroit Lions to be successful Sunday against the Bucs and their Tampa 2 defense, they will have to have more sustained drives than the one-or-two play quick-strikes that are typically a possibility with Calvin Johnson and Golden Tate on the field.

Tampa Bay has been allowing, on average, 5.6 plays per drive -- right in the middle of the league. The Bucs have been allowing 10.47 yards per completion and while that might sound like a lot, it is actually 11th in the NFL. Meanwhile, the Lions have been good at running longer drives this season. Detroit is averaging 5.86 plays per drive, tied with Baltimore for fourth in the NFL.

So what does this show?

Potentially, that Detroit can be patient when it needs to in a drive in order to achieve the desired result: Points.

Against the Buccaneers, who have been allowing 5.49 yards per play and 7.54 yards per pass attempt, this patience could be important.

"That's what they've done in the past," Johnson said. "They've made you get down the field without trying to make any mistakes. They hope that by playing deepest and widest that they can force a mistake at some point or you'll kill your own drive."

That's something Detroit knows it needs to avoid Sunday.

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