Tag: nfc divisional round

Bucs Wire staff picks for Tampa Bay’s NFC Divisional matchup against the Lions

Our picks are in — see how we have Tampa Bay’s big Divisional Round matchup going on Sunday.

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers got a big win at home against the Philadelphia Eagles last Monday, but the odds are stacked against them heading into Sunday’s Divisional Round matchup against the Detroit Lions.

The Lions will be a far tougher test for Tampa Bay, who enter a Ford Field environment that quite literally hasn’t been present at that stadium for around 20 or so years. On top of that, the Lions are very healthy like the Bucs are and present a number of weapons, such as wideout Amon-Ra St. Brown and tight end Sam LaPorta. The Bucs can certainly take the win in Motor City, but if they are to do so, they’ll need to play almost perfect to get the win.

Our Bucs Wire staff makes our predictions every matchup, and while we’d love to see a win, all three of us aren’t holding out hope. Check out our predictions below:

How to Watch: Bucs at Lions live stream, time, and viewing info for Divisional Round

Here’s how you can tune in to Tampa Bay’s game against the Lions for their Divisional Round matchup:

One more win, and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers are competing for the NFC crown. There’s just one team in the way, and they won’t go down easy.

The Bucs are set to play the Detroit Lions on the road at Ford Field on Sunday for the NFC’s Divisional Round. The Lions will not only be tough to play after a solid win against the Los Angeles Rams the week prior, but Ford Field will be one of the loudest environments in the league this weekend. The Bucs cooked on both offense and defense in a 32-9 win against the Philadelphia Eagles last weekend, but they’ll need to play almost perfect to upset the Lions in their own den.

Here’s how you can watch the game on Sunday:

Tampa Bay Buccaneers at Detroit Lions on Sunday, Jan. 21 (3 p.m. ET)

TV info: NBC

In-market live stream: fuboTV,  Hulu, Peacock

Radio: Tampa Bay – WXTB 97.9 FM / Orlando – WYGM 96.6 FM

Location: Ford Field

Forecast: Cloudy, 23 degrees (but they’re in a dome!)

Opponent Wire site: Lions Wire

[lawrence-auto-related count=5 category=1364]

Final Bucs Divisional Round Injury Report: Three players officially questionable

Despite the designations, the Bucs remain very healthy for an NFC Divisional Round appearance heading into the weekend.

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers are headed to Motown to play the Detroit Lions in the second round of the NFC playoffs, and they’re doing so very healthy for a second straight week.

Both teams released their final injury report for the NFC Divisional Round, and both teams are looking good. The Bucs have three questionable players in edge rusher Shaquil Barrett (ankle), running back Chase Edmonds (toe) and quarterback John Wolford (illness). Seeing as how the first two of those players were limited participants in practice Friday, the odds seem good that both suit up for Tampa Bay’s next playoff game.

Here’s what that injury report looks like:

Image

The Lions are mostly healthy, with just wideout Kalif Raymond out and pass rusher James Houston questionable after coming off injured reserve with an ankle injury, but a big name to watch is tight end Sam LaPorta. LaPorta was initially a full participant on Wednesday but has since been only limited the next two days without a rest designation.

[lawrence-auto-related count=5 category=1364]

Bucs vs. Lions: Three keys to victory in the Divisional Round

The Detroit Lions are a tough opponent, but the Bucs could come out on top with these keys to success.

The Buccaneers second playoff game is another rematch, this time with the Detroit Lions. These teams last played in Week 6 in which the Bucs were stymied offensively, losing 20-6. Since then, both teams have grown to a degree that a duplication of their first encounter is unlikely.

One that that has not changed is that the Lions remain an offensive juggernaut. They are top-ten in nearly every conceivable metric: points, total yards, yards per play, EPA per play and success rate. While the Bucs are much improved on offense, ranking 10th in EPA per play since Week 8, all indications point to a steep uphill battle to match the Lions’ offense.

While the Lions’ pass defense makes them vulnerable, the Bucs’ main goal will be to eliminate self-inflicted wounds, namely drops and plays doomed for failure, otherwise known in Tampa Bay as “running the ball.” The offensive game plan and execution will have to be perfect, while on defense, a wing, a prayer and a few good blitzes are all the Bucs can ask for.

Here are the Bucs’ three keys to victory over the Lions in the divisional round of the playoffs:

Bucs Divisional Round Injury Report: Two players still not practicing Thursday

The Bucs are getting healthier, but they have two players not practicing after a second walkthrough on Thursday.

While two Buccaneers were upgraded following Thursday’s practice, two remained on the shelf. Linebacker Shaq Barrett and running back Chase Edmonds were again projected as non-participants at the Thursday walk-through.

Meanwhile, Chris Godwin (knee) and Yaya Diaby (shoulder) made progress towards playing at Sunday’s divisional round in Detroit, marked limited participants at the Thursday walk-through.

Image

The Lions had slightly better news, upgrading Alex Anzalone (shoulder/ribs) and Frank Ragnow (knee/back/toe). However, star rookie tight end Sam LaPorta (knee) took a step back as a limited participant and wide receiver Kalif Raymond (knee) remained out.

The Bucs and the Lions will face off Sunday at 3 p.m. EST in Detroit at Ford Field.

[lawrence-auto-related count=5 category=1364]

Lions HC Dan Campbell shares his favorite Baker Mayfield story

Campbell had a lot of good things to say about the Buccaneers quarterback and seems to hold a lot of respect for him.

While some members of the Detroit Lions have taken to trash-talking Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback Baker Mayfield, others have a much fonder view of him.

Lions head coach Dan Campbell discussed Mayfield during his media availability Wednesday. He gave him plenty of compliments, but there was a story he had to share that he believed showed his leadership qualties.

Campbell had a particularly fond memory of Mayfield, and it went back to Mayfield’s time as an Oklahoma Sooner. Campbell was the tight ends coach for the New Orleans Saints at that time in 2018, and he told a story about heading to Oklahoma to scout a Sooner tight end and how he ran into Mayfield there:

“I’ve always been a Baker fan from afar. I loved him when he was coming out. I tell this story, this, to me, said a lot about him. I went and worked Blake Andrews out when he was coming out of OU. They came out the same year, tight end. And so, I went out there — well, his quarterback, it’s cold, but he comes out there. I think he’s got flip-flops on. It’s Baker, Baker’s going to throw for him. Baker threw for every one of his guys that was coming out that year.

“I think he’d already had two private workouts the two days prior and he had one that afternoon and I think the one the next day. That just says a lot about the guy. There’s no wonder why people rally around him and follow him, because he’s that type of teammate, right? I mean there’s a lot of guys who wouldn’t do that, ‘Well, I’ve got to save my arm. I’ve got so-and-so club coming in.’ That wasn’t him, so you can respect stuff like that now.”

Campbell seems to think very highly of Mayfield, so it also stands to reason that he certainly won’t underestimate him heading into the game. Mayfield was a former first-overall pick in the NFL draft, and he’ll be facing off against another one in quarterback Jared Goff when the two teams collide at Ford Field on Sunday at 3 p.m.

[lawrence-auto-related count=5 category=1364]

Bucs reveal uniform combo for NFC Divisional Round vs. Lions

The Bucs are going with what has become somewhat of a playoff classic for the team in recent years against the Lions.

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers have been no strangers to playoffs on the road as of late. As such, they’re set to don a uniform combo that could be considered somewhat of a classic when it comes to postseason football.

The team announced Wednesday that it’s scheduled to wear white jerseys over pewter pants against the Detroit Lions, who have first pick on uniforms as the home team. The combo should be familiar to Bucs fans, as the team has worn it for most playoff games since 2020.

The Bucs wore it for three out of their four games in 2020 that saw the team win a Super Bowl, going red over pewter for the first game —much like the Bucs did this year. Tampa Bay wore white over pewter in 2021 for both of its playoff games that year and then wore it for its Wild Card game against the Dallas Cowboys in 2022.

As it stands, the Bucs are 4-2 in this combo since 2020 in the playoffs. Hopefully that brings a bit of good luck, as the team will need it when they play the Lions on Sunday at 3 p.m.

[lawrence-auto-related count=5 category=1364]

Lions DB C.J. Gardner-Johnson takes shot at Baker Mayfield

The Bucs have some bulletin board material. See what Gardner-Johnson said about Mayfield, as well as Mayfield’s response.

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers were already doubted when they made it to the playoffs. Now, their next opponent has given them even more bulletin board material ahead of the NFC Divisional Round.

Detroit Lions cornerback C.J. Gardner-Johnson spoke during media availability on Tuesday, and he was asked about the weapons in Tampa Bay. He spoke highly of them, but he also took a shot at Bucs quarterback Baker Mayfield while he was at it.

Here’s what Gardner-Johnson said when asked about Tampa Bay’s wide receiving corps:

“This group probably is one of the better groups we done faced all year, besides that Tampa group. If you give that Tampa group a good quarterback, that’s a great group. Evans, Godwin, (Russell) Gage, that’s a great group. I played against them for real.”

Mayfield has had his ups and downs so far this year (and during his career) to be certain, but anyone would be remiss to call him a bad quarterback. He threw for 28 touchdowns and 10 interceptions in the regular season, and he also just came off a game against the Philadelphia Eagles that saw him throw for 337 yards and three touchdowns with no turnovers.

Of course, Mayfield was asked about the shot by media on Wednesday, and he replied by highlighting a very obvious hole in Gardner-Johnson’s quote — he mentioned a wideout that hasn’t played a snap for the Bucs this year.

“I mean, I don’t think he’s really watched film because he mentioned Russell Gage. You know, we love Russell, but he hasn’t played a snap this year for us. He must be going off the preseason stuff the media was talking about but he didn’t play our first game so I’m excited to see him. I think he’s a really good player.”

Mayfield and Garnder-Johnson will go face-to-face with the opportunity to prove the other wrong on Sunday at 3 p.m. ET when the Lions face off against the Bucs at Ford Field.

[lawrence-auto-related count=5 category=1364]

Bucs Report Card: How we graded Tampa Bay’s Wild Card win

The Bucs put in one of their best shifts of the year against the Eagles — see how we graded their performance:

If you’re gonna win, it pays to win big — and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers did exactly that on Monday.

The Bucs destroyed the Philadelphia Eagles 32-9 on Monday, punching a ticket to the Divisional Round and looking very good while doing it. The team fired on all fronts, taking advantage of a broken Eagles team to sail into the next part of the postseason. We here at Bucs Wire like to grade every aspect of the team’s performance, and this week, you won’t see a lot of complaints here from an overall stifling shift from Tampa Bay.

Here’s how we graded the offense, defense, special teams and coaching for the Bucs after their big Wild Card win:

WATCH: Highlights from Tampa Bay’s 32-9 win over Philadelphia

There weren’t a lot of highlights for you when the Bucs played the Panthers last week, but Tampa Bay made sure to give us a show on Monday.

There weren’t a lot of highlights to speak of when the Tampa Bay Buccaneers beat the Carolina Panthers in Week 18. The Bucs made sure to change that during the Wild Card Round.

Tampa Bay dismantled Philadelphia 32-9 on Monday night, easily forging their way to the Divisional Round. The Bucs fired on all cylinders, generally stifling the Eagles defensively and then putting up a trio of touchdowns en route to a dominant win. Yes, Philadelphia was quite bad, but the Bucs executed well on every level and got the job done to survive and advance.

Check out the highlights from the game below:

[lawrence-auto-related count=5 category=1364]