5 winners (and 2 losers) from Buccaneers incredible win over Lions

The last time the Tampa Bay Buccaneers were in Detroit, they left with a loss but absolutely no reason to hang their heads. This time around the left with the win and all the reason in the world to believe things won't end the way they did last season.

It's a statement win that cuts a few different ways, all of them good for the Buccaneers.

Baker Mayfield and the offense didn't soar to the heights they did in Week 1, but there was an efficiency to things that helped keep things on track when it might not have otherwise last year. Meanwhile, a depleted defense ravaged by injuries and missing its best player held one of the hottest offenses in the league to just a single touchdown and 16 points.

We've seen the Bucs blow games like this before, where they get down to the wire and the team collapses under the weight of the moment. That didn't happen on Sunday, and it's a testament to everything Todd Bowles and Jason Licht have built, as the dividens are starting to pay off more than anyone could have expected.

Winners and losers from Buccaneers insane Week 2 win over Lions

Winner: Baker Mayfield

When Baker Mayfield signed a $100 million contract this offseason, some pundits suggested it was Tampa Bay paying for a guy who already peaked. He's quickly proved that wrong in just two games, as the contract is already looking like a bargin for the Bucs.

Last year the Bucs adopted Baker's identity to help usher them out of the Tom Brady era and in doing so the team became his to lead. He showed that leadership last year when helping the Bucs get out of a 1-6 slump and go to the NFC Divisional Round, and he showed it again in the same place at a different time.

Winner: Chris Godwin

Taking a surface-level look at Chris Godwin's stats from last year would suggest he had an alright season, but that's ignoring some major nuances. While Godwin finished with a yard more than he had in 2022, he wasn't effectively woven into offensive schemes and it showed in how much the unit sputtered during a 1-6 losing slump.

Through two games, Godwin is proving just how foolish it was to force him to the margins of the offense.

Godwin has 290 yards and two touchdowns, which is a big reason why Tampa Bay's offense has looked so good. There's also a long con at play that could see this early production pay off later in the season. With how well Godwin is playing, defenses will likely start shifting focus over to him and away from Mike Evans, which is only going to open things up even more.

There's still a long season ahead, but the way Godwin has started things off is validating on a number of different levels.

Winner: Liam Coen

For the second straight week, Liam Coen coached circles around what Dave Canales was doing for the Buccaneers offense last season. All of the success Godwin had can be attributed to how wll Coen has designed plays to get one of his best players involved, and it's working masterfully.

Coen has done more than just get one player going, as the offensive once again looked as slick as we've seen it in a long time. That's all Coen, who has empowered Baker Mayfield to lead the offense with a confidence that burst through in moments like his two big runs on a touchdown drive.

Everything is working, and the best part about it is that it's not working at max capacity yet. We're only in the infancy of the Coen era which is perhaps the most exciting part about it all.

Loser: Justin Skule

It was a generally good day for the offensive line, but Justin Skule won't be celebrating much when he looks back at the tape. This was really a prefect storm for a bad situation to unfold, as Skule was starting for the injured Kule Goedeke and his reward for stepping up was a matchup with Aiden Hutchinson.

Skule lost that battle in a blowout.

Hutchinson is one of the best pass rushers in the league and flexed all over Skule on Sunday. He finished with five sacks and was a game-wrecking drive-killer on the other side of the ball for Tampa Bay. Skule failed to stop his man, but there's also a part of you that feels bad for him because he never really stood a chance.

Winner: Zyon McCollum

Sunday was a bit of a full circle moment for Zyon McCollum. The Buccaneers traded Carlton Davis III to Detroit back in March, which prompted McCollum to get promoted to the CB2 role in his place.

He started the game off with a bang, intercepting Jared Goff on the first offensive play of the game for the Lions. It was a huge moment not just in that it helped the Bucs get some more early points, but it came from a guy who needed to step up in a secondary that was already up against it.

Not only that, but McCollum was all over the place on Detroit's final two offensive drives of the game to help the Bucs hold off a late surge. It was an unreal performance by a young corner who will be relied on more and more as the season goes on.

The cornerback room isn't very deep in Tampa Bay, and McCollum's loss early in last week's win proved that. To see him bounce back and have the game he did against a potent offense is a major confidence builder moving forward.

Loser: Vita Vea

This one is less about Vita Vea not being good and more about the Bucs simply being unable to stay healthy.

Vea left the game in the third quarter with a knee injury and was ruled out almost right away. It's another huge blow for the Bucs, but one that didn't prevent them from being able to pull out a statement victory in Detroit.

If anything, the fact that Tampa Bay was able to win without Vea, Winfield Jr., or Calijah Kancey should be a confidence builder in itself. Zooming out, though, the Bucs are a better team when Vea is plugging up the middle of the line and the defense can't afford to take many more critical blows this early in the season.

Winner: Todd Bowles' Defense

It was a trying week for the Buccaneers defense. On Monday the team lost Antoine Winfield Jr., who suffered a foot injury in the closing minutes of the Week 1 win. That was a big blow on its own given how important Winfield is, but the loss depleted an already thin secondary heading into a game against a high-powered offense.

Rather than a shootout, the Bucs defense held its own against the Lions and had its first truly impressive performance in a while. All of the classic bend-don't-break stuff was at play, but Tampa Bay never punched back at Detroit in some key moments.

McCollum had his big interception near the start of the game, but Christian Izien got in on the fun with a drive-ending pick that kept critical points off the board. He did a similar thing last year against and NFC North team, with his goal line interception against the Vikings that helped swing the game in Tampa Bay's favor.

Izien doing that again is just one of many instances on Sunday where a Bucs defense that could have gotten steamrolled held its own and helped carry the team to a win.

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