The Tampa Bay Buccaneers faced the Detroit Lions on Jan. 21, 2024, in the Divisional Round of the playoffs. Here are takeaways and highlights from the game.
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Final Score: Lions 31, Buccaneers 23
The Lions entered this game needing one more win to advance to the NFC Championship. Tampa kept the score close throughout, but late defensive heroics sealed the 31-23 win for Detroit.
This game started slow as both teams traded field goals in the first quarter. Josh Reynolds put the first touchdown on the board with 12:33 to go in the half on a nine-yard pass from Jared Goff. Just before halftime, Cade Otton tied the game on his own reception from Baker Mayfield. The teams entered half locked at 10, and the game would remain closely contested as the teams commenced the second half.
The Lions would once again strike first in the third, adding seven points on a fourth-and-goal run play that succeeded as Craig Reynolds punched it in from one yard out. Mayfield and the Tampa offense responded as the quarterback delivered his second touchdown pass of the game, this time to Rachaad White. Both teams entered the fourth quarter deadlocked at 17.
The Lions would begin to try and pull away in the final frame. Rookie Jahmyr Gibbs broke off a 31-yard run to give the Lions the lead they would not relinquish with just over 13 minutes left in the game. Amon-Ra St. Brown did as he does best by hauling in a touchdown pass of his own to push the Lions’ lead to 31-17 with 6:22 to play.
Tampa found new life on a Mike Evans touchdown with 4:37 left, but they failed the two-point try so Detroit remained ahead by by eight. With one last chance, Derrick Barnes stepped in front of an intended Mayfield pass to Otton to secure the Lions’ victory.
Highlights
Who can catch lightin' in a bottle@jahmyr_gibbs1 | #AllGrit | 📺 NBC pic.twitter.com/OCVfV8nKvS
— Detroit Lions (@Lions) January 21, 2024
DEFENDED THE DEN @derrickbarnes21 | #AllGrit pic.twitter.com/hGhOJ3lFXn
— Detroit Lions (@Lions) January 21, 2024
M1️⃣K3️⃣
📺: #TBvsDET on NBC pic.twitter.com/V3p2VtEzp6
— Tampa Bay Buccaneers (@Buccaneers) January 21, 2024
Looking Forward
Tampa heads home while Detroit will advance to its first NFC Championship since 1991.
Tampa can hold its head after capturing its third NFC South crown in the past four seasons. This is something that very few would have expected in the first year of the post-Tom Brady era. Mayfield can also celebrate how he completed a career year in his debut campaign with the Bucs. It may have saved his career, considering the night-and-day difference from his 2022 output with the Panthers and Rams.
Detroit may have a mountain to climb this weekend against San Francisco if they are to advance to the Super Bowl for the first time in their history. As the only NFC team remaining to have never advanced to a Super Bowl, they open this week as the underdogs against the 49ers, a team they have only defeated twice in the past 28 seasons.
No matter what happens, Detroit’s window for a world title has only just begun.
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