Buccaneers Fall to Lions 31-23 in NFC Divisional Round

Starting at the Lions’ 20, Goff got seven yards on a scramble and four on an out to LaPorta. Two plays later, Goff got it to LaPorta once again on a crossing route for 12 yards to the Detroit 44. A deep shot to Williams was well-covered by CB Carlton Davis and Dean broke up a slant pass to the same target on second down. A third-down pass to St. Brown was on target but dropped and the Lions punted the ball back with just under seven minutes left in the half. It was fair caught at the 13.

Evans kept his heels inbounds on a sideline stop route for a gain of 23 to get the Bucs away from their end zone, but a tunnel screen to Godwin didn’t work at all, making it second-and-10. Two snaps later, on third-and-seven, White took a short pass out to the right and made several defenders miss on his way to a first down at the 49. A play-action rollout pass to TE Cade Otton moved the chains again with a 14-yard gain to the Lions’ 37. Mayfield was pressured and forced to throw it away on first down, followed by a five-yard Edmonds run over left end. On third-and-five, Mayfield’s pass to Godwin on a slant was a bit high and the Bucs again settled for a field goal attempt and McLaughlin’s kick hit the left upright and bounced back.

That made the line of scrimmage for Detroit its own 40, and Montgomery barged up the middle for four yards, bringing on the two-minute warning. St. Brown was tripped up just short of the sticks on a second-down out. Goff dropped back to throw on third down but Kancey beat his man quickly and buried the QB for a five-yard sack, leading to  punt with 1:34 left before halftime.

The kick was fair caught at the eight, but White improved the situation with an 11-yard run up the middle for a quick first down. After an incompletion, Palmer went to his knees to haul in a sideline pass for nine yards. Mayfield faked a handoff to White on third-and-one, then kept it on a designed run, getting into the open field for a gain of 14. The Bucs called a timeout with 35 seconds left in the half. Evans beat press coverage from Sutton and was wide open for a 27-yard catch-and-run, getting out of bounds to stop the clock. Mayfield then took another shot to Evans, who made a dazzling, sliding catch at the Detroit two. The Bucs used their second timeout with 17 seconds left in the half. Mayfield then threw a back-corner fade to Otton, who hauled it in to tie the game.

The Bucs got the ball to start the second half after a touchback and got moving with a 12-yard strike to Godwin on a crossing route. White got the ball on the next two plays and got five up the middle and 14 more over left end to the Detroit 44. However, a five-yard catch by Evans on second down put the Bucs into third-and-four and the Lions’ pass rush got home again, this time with a nine-yard sack by DL Aidan Hutchinson. The Bucs punted and the Lions got it back at their own 15.

Goff tried to go over the top to St. Brown on first down but Davis had tight coverage and it was incomplete. He was pressured into a throwaway on second down and an apparent first-down catch by Reynolds was brought back on a chop block penalty. A strong open-field tackle by CB Christian Izien on LaPorta on third down brought on the punting unit. Jack Fox’s kick rolled to a stop at the Bucs’ 40.

White got a handoff right into the teeth of a run blitz and lost four yards and a hard pass over the middle to Otton was broken up by a Kerby Joseph hit. Mayfield took a shot to Evans down the sideline but it didn’t connect and the Bucs had to punt again.

The Lions’ next possession started at their own 36 and Goff threw to St. Brown for eight yards on a play-action rollout to the right. Two plays later on third-and-one, TE Brock Wright got wide open down the left seam for a gain of 29. Gibbs got around left end for eight and a screen to LaPorta got enough for a first down at the Bucs’ 16. St. Brown took a short pass over the middle to the sideline and went out of bounds to make it first-and-goal at the five. A Gibbs run put the ball at the one but Dean broke up an end zone shot to Reynolds. The Lions brought in a jumbo package but threw out of it, with Goff’s lob over the middle too tall for LaPorta. The Lions went for it on fourth-and-goal and got it on a run up the middle by Reynolds on his first carry of the game. That put Detroit back up by seven points with four minutes left in the third quarter.

After an offsides call on Detroit, the Bucs got five more on a defensive holding call on Melifonwu. Two snaps later, a play-action rollout pass to Otton got nine yards and a first down at the Bucs’ 48. Mayfield bounced off a would-be sacker on the next snap and escaped right long enough to find Otton again for 13 more. The next play was the third Otton target in a row and the longest of them all, as he got wide open down the right numbers for a gain of 27 to the 12. Two incompletions later, the Lions brought a big blitz up the middle and the Bucs had the perfect call for it, a little swing pass to White that got him the ball with a straight shot to the end zone. The touchdown tied the game at 17-17 with 10 seconds left in the third quarter.

Gibbs started right and cut back on a first-down carry for five yards that ended the quarter. The fourth period started with a pair of big gains on passes of 12 yards to Gibbs and 18 to Reynolds. Gibbs’ next carry was good for eight more to the Bucs’ 31. On the next snap, Gibbs broke free and outraced the Bucs’ nearest defenders to the end zone for the go-ahead score with 13 minutes left in regulation.

After a touchback, the Bucs hit a quick third-and-10 when White and Otton couldn’t haul in Mayfield’s first two passes. White fought to get to the sticks on a short pass to the left but came up four yards short and the Bucs had to punt. Camarda’s 58-yard punt rolled to a stop at the Detroit 11.

A short pass to LaPorta got three before Dean dropped him. Dean was injured in the process of making the tackle. Montgomery caught a short pass over the middle for a first down at the 25, and Goff then located Williams on the left sideline for a gain of 24. LB Lavonte David then made two consecutive big plays, stopping Montgomery in his tracks for a gain of just one and sacking Goff for a loss of six. But Goff found St. Brown on a curl and the receiver pushed through a defender to get just enough for a first down at the Bucs’ 40. Gibbs caught another pass on the next snap and got the ball down to the Bucs’ 20. After getting another first down at the nine, Goff threw over the top to St. Brown for a touchdown in the left corner of the end zone.

Mayfield got a quick 11 yards on a pass to Otton but his next three dropbacks led to two incompletions and one four-yard sack. The Bucs went for it on fourth-and-14 and Mayfield found Evans on the left sideline for a gain of 24. Connections of 11 yards to WR David Moore and Godwin got 28 more and made it first down at the Lions’ 16. Two plays later, Evans ran a deep slant into the end zone and caught a hard pass in traffic for the touchdown. The Bucs went for two but a fade to Evans was broken up and it was 31-23 with 4:37 left to play.

The Bucs kicked away but the Lions got two immediate first downs on a 15-yard St. Brown catch and an 11-yard run by Montgomery. A sack by OLB Shaq Barrett was erased by a defensive holding call but the David stopped Montgomery for a loss of four two plays later and Goff’s third-and-11 pass was incomplete. The Bucs used two timeouts on the stop but got the ball back at their own 10 with 1:59 left on the clock.