DETROIT — The Detroit Lions are hosting the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Sunday.
The Lions are favored to beat the Bucs by nearly a touchdown, three months after winning by two touchdowns at Tampa Bay.
Detroit's win over Matthew Stafford and the Los Angeles Rams was the franchise's first playoff victory in 32 years in its first home postseason game in three decades.
The Bucs are coming off a 32-9 win over Philadelphia at home on Monday night. The Bucs are the only team in the conference that has made the playoffs each of the past four seasons.
TAMPA BAY (10-8) at DETROIT (13-5)
GAME TIME: Sunday, 3 p.m. EST, NBC
OPENING LINE: Lions by 6 1/2, per FanDuel Sportsbook.
AGAINST THE SPREAD: Bucs 12-5-1, Lions 12-6.
SERIES RECORD: Lions lead 32-29.
LAST MEETING: Lions beat Bucs 20-6 Oct. 15, 2023, in Tampa Bay.
LAST WEEK: Bucs beat Eagles 32-9, Lions beat Rams 24-23.
TURNOVER DIFFERENTIAL: Rams minus-3; Lions minus-1.
BUCCANEERS OFFENSE: OVERALL (23), RUSH (32), PASS (17), SCORING (20).
BUCCANEERS DEFENSE: OVERALL (23), RUSH (5), PASS (29), SCORING (7)
LIONS OFFENSE: OVERALL (3), RUSH (5), PASS (2), SCORING (5).
LIONS DEFENSE: OVERALL (19), RUSH (2), PASS (27), SCORING (23).
TURNOVER DIFFERENTIAL: Buccaneers plus-8; Lions even.
BUCCANEERS PLAYER TO WATCH
QB Baker Mayfield. He resurrected his career, leading Tampa Bay to a third straight NFC South title and a franchise-record fourth consecutive playoff berth.
He threw for career highs of 4,044 yards and 28 touchdowns while also cutting down on costly mistakes that undermined him in previous stops with Cleveland, Carolina and Los Angeles Rams.
The No. 1 overall pick from the 2018 draft threw for 337 yards and three TDs in last week’s 32-9 wild-card victory over Philadelphia, becoming the first Bucs QB to throw for 300-plus yards and three touchdowns in a playoff game.
LIONS PLAYER TO WATCH
QB Jared Goff. General manager Brad Holmes had faith Goff would be more than a stopgap when he acquired him and a pair of first-round picks for him from the Rams for Stafford three years ago.
Goff has validated the move, guiding Detroit to 21 wins in its past 28 games. He completed his first 10 passes and finished 22 of 27 with 277 yards and a TD to rookie TE Sam LaPorta on a fourth down last week.
If Goff throws at least 20 passes and completes 75% or more of his attempts, he will be the first player in NFL history to do that in three straight playoff games, including his finale with the Rams in the 2020 season.
KEY MATCHUP
Detroit's running game against Tampa Bay's defense. The Lions are looking forward to playing the Bucs with RBs David Montgomery and Jahmyr Gibbs after the veteran was hurt in the second quarter and the rookie missed the game with an injury three months ago.
The duo, running behind a strong offensive line, has helped Detroit flourish on the ground with 135.9 yards rushing per game. The Bucs have been one of the league's best against the run, giving up just 95.3 yards rushing per game.
KEY INJURIES
- The Bucs are as healthy as they’ve been all season, although Mayfield has sore ribs and played through an ankle injury the past two games.
- Lions LB Alex Anzalone was limited in practice after playing with shoulder and rib injuries last week.
- Punt returner and receiver Kalif Raymond may miss a second straight game with a knee injury.
SERIES NOTES
Goff threw for a season-high 353 yards and two TDs in the most recent meeting, connecting with WR Amon-Ra St. Brown 12 times for 124 yards and a score in a Week 6 win at Tampa Bay. That began a stretch in which the Bucs lost six of seven to fall to 4-7 before rallying to win five of the last six games in the regular season.
Tampa Bay beat Detroit 20-10 on Dec. 28, 1997, in a wild-card game in the franchise's only previous postseason matchup.
STATS AND STUFF
- Detroit is the No. 3 and Tampa Bay is the No. 4 seed in the NFC playoffs.
- The Lions won the NFC North, and the Bucs won the NFC South.
- The Bucs are the only team in the conference that has made the playoffs each of the past four seasons. They’ve won six postseason games since 2020, trailing only Kansas City's total of eight playoff wins.
- Mayfield, who’s with his fourth team in six seasons, is 2-1 in three playoff starts. He’s one of three QBs — along with Jordan Love and Brock Purdy — who had 15 or more TD passes on the road this season.
- WR Mike Evans had 10 receptions for 181 yards and two TDs the previous time he faced the Lions at Ford Field late in the 2020 season.
- Evans is the only player in NFL history to begin a career with 10 consecutive seasons with 1,000 yards-plus receiving. He had 79 catches for 1,255 yards and tied for the league lead with 13 TD receptions this season.
- Tampa Bay's defense is coming off one of its best performances of the season. In addition to limiting the Eagles to nine points and just 42 yards rushing in the wild-card round, Philadelphia was 0 of 9 on third down and 0 for 2 on fourth down.
- Although Tampa Bay didn’t force any turnovers last week, the defense leads the league with 16 takeaways over the past four postseasons.
- The Lions are coming off their first playoff win in 32 years, ending an NFL-record, nine-game postseason losing streak.
- Detroit is hosting two playoff games in a season for the first time in franchise history, hoping to earn two postseason victories for the first time since winning the 1957 NFL title.
- St. Brown has had 100 yards receiving or more in 10 games, including the playoffs, to lead the league. He had seven catches for 110 yards against the Rams.
- Gibbs and LaPorta have combined for 23 scrimmage TDs, including the playoffs, for the highest total by a pair of rookies on a team since the 1970 merger.
- LaPorta has 11 TDs and only Mike Ditka, who scored 12 times in 1961, had more TDs as a rookie TE in NFL history.
- WR Josh Reynolds became the first Lion with at least 75 yards receiving in the first quarter of a postseason game against his former team last week.
- DE Aidan Hutchinson has a chance to join another former Michigan star, LaMarr Woodley, as the two players to have at least a pair of sacks in their first two playoff games since sacks became an official statistic in 1982.
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