Sanders Gets Lion’s Share Against Buccaneers the Second Time Around

Patience paid huge dividends for Barry Sanders and the Detroit Lions.

Held to 20 yards in a loss to Tampa Bay earlier this season, Sanders broke through for 215 and scored his first rushing touchdowns of the year Sunday to help the Lions end the Buccaneers’ eight-game home winning streak with a 27-9 victory.

The three-time NFL rushing champion scored on runs of 80 and 82 yards--the longest touchdowns of his career--and had a seven-yard touchdown reception.

It was the fifth consecutive 100-yard-plus game for Sanders since being held to a combined 53 yards rushing in his first two games in the two-back offense Coach Bobby Ross brought to Detroit this season.

“That didn’t bother me,” Sanders said. “The last five weeks we’ve been averaging huge chunks of yards rushing the ball. I wasn’t worried about scoring touchdowns. Our offense was doing that. I knew I’d have mine in time.”

Sanders, who carried 24 times, has gained 1,998 yards in 17 games against Tampa Bay. He gained a career-high 237 against the Buccaneers in 1994 and needed only 15 Sunday to move ahead of Jim Brown into fourth place on the league’s career rushing list. He trails only Walter Payton (16,726), Eric Dickerson (13,259) and Tony Dorsett (12,739).

“I have to get my father to explain that to me,” he said of climbing past Brown with 12,513 yards. “He says I’ll never have the talent or skill to pass Jim Brown. It’s just good to know that I’ve succeeded with my team. That’s all the [recognition] I need.”

Tampa Bay (5-2), which dropped into a tie for first place in the NFC Central, lost for the second consecutive week. Detroit (4-3) pulled within one game of the division lead.

The Buccaneers will use next week’s open date to try to regroup.

“We need to keep improving,” quarterback Trent Dilfer said. “The last three weeks, I think we’ve taken a step backward. . . . We’re still in good position. Nobody’s hanging their head. But our goal is to get better every week, regardless of whether we win or lose.”

Dilfer, whose improved play was one of the keys to Tampa Bay’s 5-0 start, was intercepted twice.

The Lions went into the game determined to give Sanders the ball more than he got it when Tampa Bay limited him to 20 yards in 10 carries in a 24-17 Buccaneer victory Sept. 7.

The commitment paid off right away, even though 11 of his 12 first-half carries Sunday netted only 20 yards. But in typical Sanders fashion, he made safety John Lynch miss him behind the line of scrimmage and then outran the pursuit on his 80-yard touchdown run that gave Detroit a 7-3 lead.

“I hit the gap, but he made a great cutback,” Lynch said. “His vision is unbelievable. I just missed the tackle, and he was able to take it to us.”

He had 100 yards at the half, and stunned the Buccaneers again by sweeping around right end and breaking away down the sideline for an 82-yard touchdown run after he gained one yard on his first carry of the third quarter.

“Barry showed a lot of pop,” Mitchell said. “It’s been a while since we’ve seen the acceleration like that.”

The Lions put the game away with the second of two Jason Hanson field goals and a 97-yard drive that featured Herman Moore’s 79-yard reception that set up Sanders’ touchdown catch.