PONTIAC, Mich. (AP) -- Warren Sapp, the Tampa Bay sack master, feels like he's been watching the wrong film all week.

The Buccaneers (3-3) play the Detroit Lions (4-2) in the Silverdome on Sunday night, so that's the film Sapp figured they would be looking at. But something was missing. There was no Barry Sanders on any of those Detroit reels.

"They look funny without No. 20," said Sapp, who leads the Bucs' highly rated defense with seven sacks. "They're also playing a lot without Herman Moore and some of their linemen, but they're doing a good job."

They are, for a fact. The Lions have two road wins. They also have won both NFC Central games, giving them an early leg up in the divisional race.

Not bad for a team that was stunned on the eve of training camp by the news that Sanders, the NFL's most exciting running back, was retiring. But the three-man rotation of Ron Rivers, Greg Hill and rookie Sedrick Irvin has just about been able to fill the void.

Rivers fractured his right ankle on his first carry in last week's 24-9 victory at Carolina. But Hill and Irvin picked up the slack. Hill rushed for 70 yards and Irvin had a 1-yard touchdown run.

"We have more depth," Lions coach Bobby Ross says. "We wouldn't be surviving if we didn't. Some of that is simply the fact that some young guys have made a commitment and stepped up."

Through the first six games last season, Sanders was averaging a little over 100 yards per game. He had rushed for 638 yards and four touchdowns. The Lions were 2-4, on their way to a 5-11 finish.

Sanders quit, needing only 1,458 yards to pass Walter Payton and become the NFL's career rushing leader.

Through the first six games without Sanders, the Lions are rushing for just over 100 yards per game, the same as Sanders did. They have for 604 yards and have three touchdowns rushing, two by Irvin and one by quarterback Charlie Batch.

More importantly, the Lions are 4-2. That means they have 10 games during which to match their win total for all of 1998, a season in which Sanders rushed for 1,491 yards.

This is enough to worry the Bucs, of course. But not as much as Sanders would. In 19 games against them, Sanders burned the Bucs for 2,195 yards -- an average of 115.5 per game -- and 14 touchdowns.

"For the first time in a long time, I'll be able to go into Detroit and not have that Barry," Bucs' coach Tony Dungy said. "Now, their other backs have done well, they have thrown the ball well, and they're playing with a lot of emotion and intensity.

"But, still, there's got to be some feeling. I think when you go there and don't see No. 20 back there, you feel a little bit better about things."

Dungy can also take solace in the fact the Bucs defense, led by a lighter and faster Sapp, is allowing just 252.7 yards per game. Tampa Bay is first in the NFL against the rush, allowing a mere 69.5 yards per game.

That's the good news.

What bothers Dungy is that his offense has been almost nonexistent. In their three wins, the Bucs' scoring totals went from 19 to 13 to 6 points. The best output was 23 points in a loss at Green Bay. But that also is the only time they have reached 20 all season.

So Dungy made a quarterback change. He benched Trent Dilfer after a 6-3 win over the Chicago Bears last week and tapped Eric Zeier as the replacement.

"We looked at what gives us the best chance to win," Dungy said. "We haven't scored as many points as we'd like the last few weeks. It's not all the quarterback's fault, but we felt a change was in order right now and think it gives us the best chance."

Dilfer, whose streak of 70 consecutive regular-season starts will end when Zeier takes the first snap against Detroit, was just 16-for-27 for 121 yards against the Bears. The Bucs are 27th in total offense.

"Eric's the guy we feel we need to go with," Dungy said.

Dungy also feels Sapp and his defensive cohorts can play better. He was especially unhappy the Bucs gave up a combined 47 points in a 21-14 loss to Minnesota and a 26-23 loss to the Packers.

"Our defense had a chance to win a couple of games for us, and didn't do it," Dungy said.

Still, the Bucs haven't given up a TD rushing, and they've gone 12 games without allowing a runner past 100 yards. That streak dates to Nov. 22, 1998, when they held Sanders to 66 yards.

"Hill and Irvin will still give us trouble," Dungy said. "But it's not the kind of trouble you could anticipate when you were making a game plan for Barry Sanders."

TAMPA BAY Season schedule and results

DETROIT Season schedule and results

September 12 NY Giants L 13-17 September 19 @Philadelphia W 19-5 September 26 Denver W 13-10 October 3 @Minnesota L 14-21 October 10 @Green Bay L 23-26 October 24 Chicago W 6-3 October 31 @Detroit 8:20pm ET November 7 @New Orleans 4:05pm ET November 14 Kansas City 1:00pm ET November 21 Atlanta 1:00pm ET November 28 @Seattle 4:05pm ET December 6 Minnesota 9:00pm ET December 12 Detroit 1:00pm ET December 19 @Oakland 4:05pm ET December 26 Green Bay 4:15pm ET January 2 @Chicago 1:00pm ET

September 12 @Seattle W 28-20 September 19 Green Bay W 23-15 September 26 @Kansas City L 21-31 October 10 San Diego L 10-20 October 17 Minnesota W 25-23 October 24 @Carolina W 24-9 October 31 Tampa Bay 8:20pm ET November 7 St. Louis 1:00pm ET November 14 @Arizona 4:15pm ET November 21 @Green Bay 1:00pm ET November 25 Chicago 12:40pm ET December 5 Washington 1:00pm ET December 12 @Tampa Bay 1:00pm ET December 19 @Chicago 1:00pm ET December 25 Denver 4:15pm ET January 2 @Minnesota 1:00pm ET

Records source: STATS, Inc.

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