The Detroit Lions and Tampa Bay Buccaneers met in Motown on Monday night in a battle between two of the NFC’s best. Both teams are in the thick of the hunt for the No. 1 overall seed in the NFC playoffs, so a win tonight would go a long way towards helping them achieve that goal.

The Lions’ offense wasn’t as potent as it’s been this season, but they scored a touchdown in each of the first three quarters while their defense suffocated the Bucs’ offense. This game, which could’ve been so great, was a bit of a snoozer because of the injuries the Bucs had on offense.

Despite the injuries, this was still a massive win for the Lions, who move to 5-2. Here were my takeaways from Monday’s game.

Multiple big momentum switches before half kept the Bucs alive

The Buccaneers were struggling early, but they got a big stop late in the first half and got the ball back with three timeouts and under two minutes to go. They had a shot to get on the board and get the ball back after half, but Baker Mayfield threw an interception, giving the ball back to Detroit.

After the pick, it looked like the Lions would add to their 14-0 lead, but they also threw an interception, giving the ball back to Tampa with 20 seconds and three timeouts.

Mayfield completed a couple of big passes and got the Bucs into field goal range, and Chase McLaughlin drilled a 53-yard field goal to make it 14-3 at the half with the Bucs getting the ball back after the break.

The Lions out-gained the Bucs, 275-58 in the first half, and yet somehow, the Bucs kept themselves alive after a couple big momentum shifts late.

What an effort from Detroit’s defense

I was so impressed with the Lions’ defense on Monday night. They were down so many players (which we’ll talk about more later) and they just put Baker Mayfield and the Bucs offense in hell for the entire 60 minutes.

The pass rush was great, sacking Mayfield four times, but pressuring him on almost every drop back. The run defense was great, holding the Bucs to 3.8 yards per carry. But it was their secondary that was the most impressive.

With Terrion Arnold, DJ Reed, Kerby Joseph and others out, it was a revolving door at cornerback for the Lions tonight, but it didn’t matter. They put the straps on the Bucs receivers the entire night, and when it mattered most, they had a couple pass breakups in the red zone to keep it 24-9 in the closing minutes.

This group of misfits held one of the MVP favorites to 214 yards and one touchdown behind a 55 percent completion percentage while also picking him off once.

Aaron Glenn was great, but Kelvin Sheppard might be the next great defensive coordinator in this league. You can tell his players LOVE playing for him, and he’s built a great system that succeeds no matter who’s playing.

Jahmyr Gibbs legacy game

All the talk this week was about how the Lions wanted to give David Montgomery more touches this week. Jahmyr Gibbs heard that and said, “hold my beer.”

We’ve seen some great running back performances this week. Jonathan Taylor had 100+ yards and three touchdowns, Quinshon Judkins scored three times and Christian McCaffrey nearly had 200 yards and two scores last night. However, tonight, Gibbs had the best RB performance of the week.

Gibbs finished the night with 17 rushes for 136 yards and two touchdowns while adding 82 yards on three receptions in the pass game. He completely shredded the Buccaneers’ defense, and was a large reason their offense found so much success against the (former) No. 1 seed in the NFC.

The Lions can’t catch a break in the secondary

The Lions’ secondary has been hit with the injury bug this season, but they found something in Rock Ya-Sin and Arthur Malet, who were both performing well tonight before they were both injured.

At this point, the Lions are running out of players they can play in their defensive backfield. Terrion Arnold, Avonte Maddox, Kerby Jospeh, DJ Reed, Ya-Sin and Maulet are just a few names the Lions are missing on the backend of their defense.

Luckily for them, their bye week is coming at the perfect time. The Lions have next week off, and if they can get healthy and get some of their corners back, they should be sitting pretty for the back half of their schedule.

Need a rematch in the playoffs

This was never going to be a fair fight. The Bucs had to travel to Detroit in prime-time without three of their best offensive players and a banged up Mike Evans (who was re-injured in the first half on Monday) and Emeka Egbuka. I really hope we get a rematch of this game in the playoffs, because if these two teams clash with healthy rosters, it should be a thriller.

The Bucs are much better than the product they put on the field tonight. When Mike Evans, Chris Godwin, Egbuka, Jalen McMillan and Bucky Irving are all on the field, this offense is as good as anyone’s.

The Lions proved tonight that last week was a bit of a fluke and they still have one of the most efficient offenses in the league, so if we get a rematch between these two and everyone’s healthy, grab your popcorn.