Buccaneers to play Detroit Lions on the road for Divisional Round

Another week alive, another regular-season rematch — the Bucs are headed to Motor City to play the Detroit Lions.

Hold up, wait a minute — y’all thought they were finished?

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers bested the Philadelphia Eagles 32-9 at Raymond James Stadium on Monday, the first playoff victory of the Todd Bowles era. In doing so, they’ll advance to the NFC Divisional Round, where they’re set to play the Detroit Lions at 3 p.m. next Sunday at Ford Field.

The matchup is yet another rematch from the 2023 regular season, just as Tampa Bay’s game against the Eagles was. The last time the Bucs played the Lions, Detroit beat them at Raymond James Stadium 20-6 in one of Tampa Bay’s worst offensive performances. Now, the Bucs will go to the Lions’ house in an attempt to avenge that loss and appear in their second NFC Championship game in four years.

Believe it or not, the Bucs and Lions have actually played a playoff game against each other. That happened in 1997, when the Bucs beat the Lions 20-10 as the four seed — the Bucs would then lose the next week to another then-division rival in Green Bay.

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