The Detroit Lions (6-6) take on the Tampa Bay Buccaneers (4-8) on the road today with their season on the line. Quarterback Matthew Stafford is banged up and the injuries along the offensive line continue to mount for Detroit. With only a small chance of making the playoffs, the Lions need a win in the worst way.
Let’s see what our Full Press Lions staff has to say about today’s critical matchup.
Lions 27, Buccaneers 23
The Detroit Lions have been trending downward, but the Tampa Bay Buccaneers are in an even worse spot right now at 4-8. This may be the perfect bounce-back game for the Lions offense, as the Bucs rank 31st in total defense. Expect the Lions to turn things around this week.
Lions 20, Buccaneers 17
The Lions and Buccaneers might not be the marquee matchup that it was expected to be prior to the season, but it’ll still be fun. If there’s anything to watch closely it’ll be Darius Slay and Mike Evans. Two top talents going up against each other all day? Yes, please. Overall, I think Stafford plays well enough and the Lions leave Tampa Bay with another win.
Lions 13, Buccaneers 20
The Lions are a better team than the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and should be expected to win, except Lions quarterback Matthew Stafford is dealing with an injured throwing hand and head coach Jim Caldwell seems to be losing the confidence of the team. The game itself will not be as close as the score will let on due to missed field goals from whomever the Bucs hired off the street this week. I really hope to be wrong.
Lions 23, Buccaneers 21
Detroit has lost two straight and blown any real chance of making a late run at the NFC North. Coach Caldwell’s seat seems to be getting hotter with each loss, however, I think the Lions will actually show up for this one. They can start by playing better in the first half and not getting down by double-digits for the fifth-straight week. I like Detroit to pull out an unnecessarily close game over a bad Bucs team.
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