By Darryl Harding Sr
The NFL postseason is in full swing and on Sunday January 21st at 3:00pm, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers will compete against the Detroit Lions, in a Divisional Playoff matchup. Tampa Bay, having just defeated the Philadelphia Eagles, gear up for a dedicated Detroit Lions team and a battle of the unlikelies.
A Todd Bowles lead, Tampa Bay squad, with quarterback Baker Mayfield, surprisingly conquered the once thought number one contending Philadelphia Eagles. Throwing for over 330 passing yards, in the game vs Eagles, Baker Mayfield showed a grit that has only been compared to their opponent, the Detroit Lions.
Conquering 30 years of subpar play and finding themselves in their second hosted playoff game, the Detroit Lions come in backed by the hard-nosed, die hard, blue collar fans of Detroit.
Jared Goth has shined as the Lions quarterback and has seen success that Detroit has longed for since the Barry Sanders era. “I thought he was on point,” said Dan Campbell, Detroit Lions head coach in reference to quarterback Jared Goff, “he looked loose, he looked relaxed, I thought he threw the ball with conviction.”
Goth threw for 277 yards, in their triumph over the LA Rams and has shown a calmness and poise that has propelled Detroits’ hopes into solid playoff contention. The hard nose grind, ground and pound of Detroit Lions running back David Montgomery pitted against the winning underdog mindset of Tampa Bay’s Rashad White have NFL fans anticipating a grimy, no holes barred battle in the trenches.
Lions receivers Amon-Ra St Brown and Josh Reynolds will attempt to carve up a Tampa Bay defense, which has performed better in the playoffs, allowing under 300 all purpose yards in the previous round.
Subsequently Tampa Bay receivers will persist to gouge a Detroit defense, which unfortunately has given up just under 90 yards more in production than its average during the season. Will Tampa Bay’s martyr mentality prevail or will the Motown magic mojo maintain? Tune In Sunday at 3:00pm to find out.