The Buccaneers are heading back to Ford Field for a rematch with a Lions team that also has something to prove, and both sides are carrying the weight of last season’s collapse into this one.
When Tampa Bay met Detroit on Oct. 20 last year, the Bucs looked like a team on the rise. They were 5-1, fresh off consecutive wins over the eventual Super Bowl champion Seattle Seahawks in Seattle and the playoff-bound San Francisco 49ers at Raymond James Stadium. That stretch had Tampa looking like more than just the NFC South favorite - it had them in the conversation as a legitimate Super Bowl contender.
Then came the letdown. The Bucs were outplayed from the start in a 24-9 loss to the Lions and never found their footing.
They did respond the next week with a 20-point win over a mediocre New Orleans Saints team, but that was as good as it got. Tampa Bay dropped seven of its final nine games, finished 8-9, and wound up losing the NFC South.
Detroit’s season went sideways too. After back-to-back playoff trips, the Lions had built real momentum under Dan Campbell, and the win over Tampa pushed them to 5-2.
But the bottom fell out from there. Injuries ravaged the secondary, with the entire starting unit ending up on injured reserve at some point, and the Lions also got hit by bad luck, losing five games by a touchdown or less.
The result was a 9-8 finish and no playoff berth.
That kind of record used to feel like progress in Detroit. Not anymore.
Campbell has changed the expectation level, and 9-8 wasn’t going to satisfy a team that believes it belongs in the postseason. The Lions are expecting to get back there, and the Buccaneers are, too.
The biggest reason Detroit still has that kind of confidence is Jared Goff. The Lions have the quarterback every contender needs, and Goff kept delivering last season with 34 touchdown passes, only eight interceptions, and a fourth straight 4,000-yard year. His 4,564 passing yards ranked second in the league.
Offensively, the Lions were never the issue. They were one of the NFL’s highest-scoring teams, with only three clubs putting up more points.
The trouble was on the other side of the ball, where the injury-hit defense finished 18th in points allowed. Detroit spent the offseason trying to correct that.
There’s also a familiar face on the other sideline for Tampa Bay fans. Alex Anzalone is back at Ford Field, and he’ll be facing a revamped Lions defense anchored by former Bucs standout Devin White.
The game is set for 1:00 on CBS.
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