History will be made Sunday afternoon when the Detroit Lions host the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in the NFC Divisional playoffs. It will be the first time in franchise history the Lions have hosted two playoff games in the same postseason. While Detroit looks for its first ever Super Bowl appearance and first NFL Championship since the 1950s, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers look to add another Vince Lombardi Trophy to their trophy case as the former NFC Central rivals face off one more time. Let’s preview the Buccaneers and Lions.
Tampa Bay Buccaneers
The Buccaneers enter the Divisional round carrying a wave of momentum. Tampa Bay won six of its last seven games including a blowout win over the defending NFC Champion Philadelphia Eagles in the Wild Card round, that I did not pick them to win. However, that game was in the friendly confines of Raymond James Stadium. Tampa must now become road warriors this week as they head to Ford Field in Detroit to face the Lions.
Tampa also brings more postseason experience into the game than Detroit does. The Buccaneers made the playoffs each of the past four seasons and have won, at least, one game in three of those seasons. Tampa also won the Super Bowl with Tom Brady at the helm during the 2020 season. Of course, quarterback is where Tampa is less experienced than Detroit. This will only be Baker Mayfield‘s fourth career playoff start. He’s 2-1 in those games, so far.
Detroit Lions
Much like the Buccaneers, I did not pick the Lions to make it this far. Still, Detroit’s game with Los Angeles came a lot closer to my expectations than the Eagles-Buccaneers game did. After a hard-fought game that demonstrated how the Matthew Stafford–Jared Goff trade was a win-win for both the Lions and Rams, Detroit now turns its attention to a team that just won a Super Bowl three seasons ago.
While Detroit is the home team, the Lions are still far more inexperienced than the Buccaneers. The real advantage for the Lions is quarterback Jared Goff. Five seasons ago, he led the Rams to the Super Bowl before falling to the New England Patriots. Goff proved to be cool under pressure against his former team in the Wild Card round. He’ll need to channel that again to help guide the Lions to their first NFC Championship game since January 1992.
Buccaneers vs. Lions Predictions
Both of these teams are playing in a way where it’s hard to pick against either one of them. While Tampa won five of its last six, Detroit won five of its last seven. Both teams are led by quarterbacks who were written off by their previous teams after leading those teams to the postseason. Both teams and quarterbacks have a lot to prove. The numbers don’t give me a lot to go on, but my gut says Detroit, so I’m picking the Lions to win.
Final score – Detroit Lions 24 | Tampa Bay Buccaneers 20
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