Detroit Lions game balls and goats: Amon-Ra St. Brown delivers; DBs need to be better

TAMPA, Fla. — Free Press sports writer Dave Birkett highlights the best and worst performances from the Detroit Lions' 20-6 win over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Sunday at Raymond James Stadium:

Game balls

WR Amon-Ra St. Brown

Neither team had much going offensively Sunday, but St. Brown was the one constant. In his return from an abdominal injury, he caught 12 passes for 124 yards and scored a touchdown on a 27-yard catch-and-run late in the first half when he caught a short pass on third-and-13, sprinted across field and picked up a big block from Craig Reynolds on his way to the end zone.

“Listen, Saint’s a ballplayer now,” Lions coach Dan Campbell said. “He’s a big player for us and he’s a clutch player that shows up and always makes plays. He is as consistent a player as you’re ever going to find in this league and you can count on it and it’ll be there and he just does things right and he’s ultra competitive, so having him back is huge. It was huge. And he didn’t disappoint today.”

LIONS GRADES: Alex Anzalone keys linebackers' standout performance

LB Alex Anzalone

Anzalone had a team-high nine tackles and two pass breakups Sunday to key another standout effort by the Lions defense. The Lions held the Bucs to 46 net yards rushing and kept an opponent out of the end zone for the second time this season.

For Anzalone, the game was a homecoming of sorts. He went to college at Florida, lives in the state in the offseason, trains with several Buccaneers in the offseason and his parents were in attendance Sunday after returning from war-torn Israel earlier this week.

“It’s crazy,” he said. “I mean, you think about it, they were in a hostile situation in a foreign country this time a week ago and just to have them here home, it’s just, it puts everything into perspective. I was talking to (defensive coordinator Aaron Glenn) I think right after the national anthem and just like, it puts life into perspective. There’s really some tough things going around the world and it’s just a blessing to be here in America.”

DT Isaiah Buggs

Buggs made the defensive play of the game Sunday, when he tipped a Baker Mayfield pass at the line of scrimmage that Will Harris intercepted.

Buggs was the odd man out of the Lions defensive tackle rotation to start the season, but he’s played well the past two weeks while splitting time with Benito Jones at nose tackle. He might not have played his best overall game Sunday, but he delivered a key play and deserves a game ball for his perseverance.

“(I’m) just buying into what these coaches have for me,” Buggs said. “Like I said before, whatever they have for me, that’s what they have for me and I’m going to do my best to execute.”

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Goats

The Lions secondary

The Lions are tied for the best record in the NFL at 5-1, but they had some slip-ups in the secondary Sunday that might have cost them the game had they been playing a better quarterback.

Mayfield missed two throws to receivers who ran open behind Lions defensive backs, and had a third pass tipped at the line of scrimmage for an interception when Mike Evans ran past Kerby Joseph early in the game. Joseph and fellow safety Tracy Walker appeared to be at fault on two of the plays, and slot cornerback Will Harris got beat cleanly on the third.

Brian Branch is on the mend from an ankle injury, so there is help on the way. But Joseph and Walker are likely the Lions’ safeties going forward. Collectively, the group needs to be better if the Lions want to secure the No. 1 seed in the NFC.

Contact Dave Birkett at dbirkett@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @davebirkett.

This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Detroit Lions game balls and goats: Amon-Ra St. Brown delivers