The Detroit Lions have never hosted multiple playoff games in one postseason in franchise history, but that will change Sunday when the NFC North champions face the NFC South champion Tampa Bay Buccaneers with a trip to the NFC title game at stake.

It marks the second postseason meeting between the Buccaneers and Lions. Tampa Bay broke a 14-year playoff drought with a 20-10 victory over Detroit in the Wild Card round of the 1997 playoffs in the last game ever played at Tampa Stadium.

Tampa Bay Buccaneers vs. Detroit Lions 2024 NFL Divisional Round Game Information

Who's moving on to the NFC Championship? #NFLPlayoffs

: #TBvsDET — Sunday 3pm ET on NBC
: Stream on #NFLPlus pic.twitter.com/yk9PQis8PR

— NFL (@NFL) January 17, 2024

• When: Sunday, January 21st, 2024. 3:00pm EST.
• Where: Ford Field, Detroit, MI
• TV: NBC
• Radio: WXTB 97.9 FM (Buccaneers) // WXYT-FM 97.1 (Lions)
• Live Stream: NFL+
• NFL Odds: Buccaneers (+6.5) // Lions (-6.5)

Why Bet on the Tampa Bay Buccaneers?

Tampa Bay was a short home dog Monday night against Philadelphia but dominated the Eagles 32-9 to advance. It marked Tampa Bay’s fourth postseason victory in six tries against the Eagles, their most in both categories against any franchise. The Bucs also eliminated Philadelphia from the playoffs in 1979, 2002 and 2021.

Bucs QB Baker Mayfield comes off his best season and completed 22 of 36 passes for 337 yards with three touchdowns and no interceptions in the win. Mayfield had been struggling with rib and ankle injuries coming in, but neither appeared to inhibit him at any point. He averaged 9.4 yards per attempt after generating a season-low 4.3 figure Week 18 against the Panthers and posted his fifth multi-touchdown tally in the last six games by connecting with David Moore (44 yards), Trey Palmer (56 yards) and Chris Godwin (23 yards) for his three scores.

Mayfield – and play-caller Dave Canales – helped the offensive line by dialing up a lot of quick-release passes. On the 27 throws on which Mayfield was not pressured he got rid of the ball at an average of 2.29 seconds after the snap. Only Buffalo’s Josh Allen, at 2.18 seconds, had a quicker release on unpressured throws during the Wild Card weekend.

“There’s something about whether it’s you’re an underdog or [on] a road game, just having your backs against the wall and knowing it’s just your team versus everybody else when you’re counted out,” said Mayfield, who became the first Buccaneer to throw for 300 yards and three touchdowns in a postseason game. “It’s always fun to be in that role. Obviously I’m pretty comfortable in it, but our team has completely embraced that throughout the year.”

Tight end Cade Otton did not find the end zone on Monday but he did lead the team in targets (11), receptions (8) and receiving yards (89). Otton set a new franchise postseason record for receptions by a tight end and put up the second most yards in a single game.

In Week 6, Detroit won 20-6 at Tampa Bay behind a 353-yard passing game from Goff and 12 catches for 124 yards and a touchdown by St. Brown. The Buccaneers were held to 251 total yards and two Chase McLaughlin field goals. Since the Divisional Round of the 2020 playoffs, this is the eighth straight postseason game for the Buccaneers that is a rematch of a contest played earlier during the regular season.

Why Bet on the Detroit Lions?

Detroit hosted its first playoff game in 30 years this past Sunday and knocked off the Rams 24-23. Detroit scored touchdowns on their first three possessions of the game – all on 75-yard drives – to build a 21-10 lead in the second quarter. Jared Goff started 14-of-15 passing for 161 yards with a 2-yard touchdown pass to tight end Sam LaPorta. David Montgomery (1 yard) and Jahmyr Gibbs (10) also found the end zone for Detroit. The Lions then cooled down big time but the defense did just enough to get the Lions into the Divisional Round of the playoffs for the first time since 1991. Goff finished 22-of-27 passing for 277 yards with a touchdown, no turnovers and a 121.8 passer rating.

“I thought he played top-notch football,” Lions head coach Dan Campbell said of Goff. “He probably had two errors and everything else was on point. He looked loose. He looked relaxed. I thought he threw the ball with conviction. Was strong in the pocket. Got us in the right play.”

Star wideout Amon-St. Brown hauled in seven of nine targets for 110 yards as he led the Lions in every receiving category while notching the first 100-yard game of his postseason career. St. Brown didn’t get involved on any of Detroit’s three touchdown drives to open Sunday’s victory, but he played a key role between the goal lines on each of those 75-yard scoring drives.

Defensive end Aidan Hutchinson continued his stellar play. Hutchinson ended the regular season with five sacks in the final two games and put plenty of pressure on Rams QB Matthew Stafford, recording two sacks and four QB hits. Against Tampa Bay tackle Luke Goedeke (who registered a below-average 86% pass block win rate in the regular season), Hutchinson has the advantage, and that could make a big difference for the defense — the unit that is supposed to be Detroit’s weakness.

One worrisome note is that during the regular season, the Lions allowed seven passing TDs of 25-plus air yards, the second most behind the Washington Commanders (11). On Sunday they gave up two to the Rams. Stafford threw a 50-yard touchdown pass to receiver Puka Nacua and a 38-yard touchdown to receiver Tutu Atwell.

Linebacker Alex Anzalone said he plans to play through whatever pain he’s experiencing in this week’s game after missing snaps in Sunday’s win. Anzalone injured his shoulder midway through Sunday’s fourth quarter after tackling Rams running back Ronnie Rivers out of bounds on a screen play. Anzalone started the game with a harness on his right shoulder. He missed four snaps in the second half with his injury, and led the Lions with eight tackles and two tackles-for-loss.

“It’s going to probably be a little sore but this is Week 19,” Anzalone said afterward. “You’re fighting through everything, so I’ll be OK.”

Buccaneers vs. Lions Betting Trends

• Tampa Bay is 5-1 ATS in the last 6 games.
• The Buccaneers are 6-1 SU in its last 7 games.
• The totals went under in 4 of Tampa Bay’s last 5 games.
• Detroit is 4-1 ATS in the last 5 games.
• The Lions are 4-1 SU in its last 5 games.
• The totals went over in 7 of Detroit’s last 10 games.

Buccaneers vs. Lions Expert Betting Predictions

Lions 24, Buccaneers 20.

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