Taking nothing away from the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, the Detroit Lions played a very sloppy game on Sunday. The Buccaneers were able to contain Calvin Johnson for most of the game, holding him to 115 yards on the game. Matthew Stafford threw three interceptions in this game to go along with it.

With a bad performance like this against a now 3-8 team, this is not going to help out the Lions cause if they want to be NFC North champions. They Lions did indeed get Nate Burleson back from the car accident in week 3, and he posted about as good a game as Johnson did.

If the Lion’s wanted to be a playoff team, they have to get the job done at home against a team like the Buccaneers. The Lions do indeed hold two wins over the Chicago Bears, but they might not get to be in the picture as the Lions will face the Green Bay Packers on Thanksgiving.

If the Lions play the way they did on Sunday, they will not be in the playoffs. The Lions will need to win on Thanksgiving handily to change many peoples minds. The Packers have many injuries and are playing with their third string quarterback Scott Tolzien. The Lions need to show that they can run with the big teams if they want to be in the playoffs.