Buccaneers 23-31 Lions, summary: score, stats, highlights | NFL Divisional Round

Goodnight!

That's it for this live coverage of the Bucs vs Lions NFC Divisional Round tonight, folks. Thanks for following along and we hope you enjoyed the game!

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The deal is sealed with Mayfield interception

The Bucs had a chance to make a comeback with plenty of time in the game to get down the field and score. Instead, Mayfield threw an interception, caught by LB Derrick Barnes and that was it for the game. The Lions will advance. The Bucs will go home.

Evans' 16-yard TD makes it a close game

The Bucs kept trying to come back and they got close here with a 16-yard touchdown by Mike Evans. Unfortunately their attempt at the 2-point conversion failed and the Lions maintained an 8-point lead over the Bucs.

Lions made it a two-possession lead

Amon-Ra St. Brown took the Lions down the field and then made the catch for 9 yards in the end zone to extend the Lions lead in the final quarter.

Gibbs' 31-yard TD run!

Lions back on top to start the 4th after this impressive TD run by Jahmyr Gibbs!

Tied AGAIN on a Bucs TD

Rachaad White made this 20-yard TD run to tie the game up yet again in the third quarter

Lions took the lead back to start the second half

Reynolds had his second TD of the game!

NFL

Have the Detroit Lions ever won a Super Bowl?

Short answer: No.

But that could change this year.

LIONS move on to NFC Championship Game vs Niners!

Goff takes the knee, the clock winds down, and the LIONSare going to the NFC CHAMPIONSHIP GAME to face the San Francisco 49ers next week! 

Mayfield's pass is INTERCEPTED by Barnes! The Lions will take the victory!!!

Mayfield connects with Evans for 5 yards to the 15

TWO-MINUTE WARNING

This game is coming down to the wire. The Lions couldn't score on their last drive, giving the Bucs a chance to come back and take the lead as they're only trailing by 8 with 2 minutes left. 

They have the ball on their own 10.

Fox punts 35 yards to Bucs 10 and Thompkins calls for the fair catch

Goff pass incomplete, brings Lions to 4th and 11 and they're forced to punt it with plenty of time for the Bucs to come back and score.

Montgomery is shoved backwards by David for a loss of 4 - 3rd down and 11

Bucs take second timeout

Montgomery takes it up 3 - 2nd and 7

The Bucs messed that up for themselves. Davis is called for Illegal Use of Hands and gets a 5-yard penalty. Lions get the automatic 1st down.

Goff SACKED by Barrett for a loss of 4 yards

Montgomery keeps the ball moving down the field, running for 11 more yards - 1st down at the Bucs 49

Goff tosses it to St. Brown and he takes off for 15yards to the Lions 40 - 1st down

Touchback

And the Bucs are STILL in the game! Mayfield launched a missile into the end zone and Evans leapt up to make the catch for 16yards despite having Sutton all over him. They went for 2 but it was NO GOOD as Mayfield's pass to Evans was broken up by Melifonwu to make the stop. We have an 6-point game with 4:37 left to play.

Mayfield pass incomplete to Godwin - 2nd and 10

Mayfield connects with Godwin for yet another big gain of 17yards to the Lione 16

Mayfield pass to Moore complete for 11 yards - 1st and 10

The Bucs go for it on 4th and long and the risk has REWARDS!

Mayfield passes deep to Evans and he makes the catch for 24 yards - 1st down

At 3rd and 14, Mayfield makes a terrible pass to Godwin and of course he doesn't make the catch - 4th and 14

Bucs take first timeout

Mayfield SACKED, split by Reeves-Maybin andMelifonwu for a loss of 4 yards

Mayfield's pass deflected by Cominsky - 2nd and 10

Mayfield pass complete to Godwin and he takes it up for 13 yards - 1st down

Touchback

The Lions have done it again! They made it look effortless getting down the field and it was St. Brown who made a big play and St. Brown who made the 9-yard touchdown grab. Badgley's PAT is good and the Lions extend the lead with 6:22 to go in the game.

Goff fakes the handoff, gives it to LaPorta for 7 yards and then Gibbs takes it up 4 on the next play to make the 1st down at the Bucs 9 - 1st and goal

Gibbs takes off FAST for a gain of 20 yards to the Bucs 20!!

Goff pass to St. Brown and it's caught AND he's able to push forward to gain 16 yards and make that crucial 3rd-down conversion!

Goff SACKED by David for a loss of 6 yards - 3rd and 15

Kancey takes down Montgomery - 1 yard, 2nd and 9

Goff passes deep and it's a perfect pass CAUGHT by Williams for 24 yards to the Lions 49 - 1st down

Montgomery picjs up 11 yards - 1st down

Bucs' Dean was injured during the play

Goff pass complete to LaPorta for just 3 yards - 2nd and 7

Camarda punts 58 yards to Lions 11, downed by Moore

Mayfield makes the pass to White and he escapes two defenders only to be taken down by Anzalone for 6 yards - 4th and 4 at the 31

Mayfield backs up but he's still taken down by Hutchinson just after making the throw to get the ball away - incomplete, 3rd and 10

Mayfield pass incomplete to White - he drops it - 2nd and 10

Touchback

Gibbs pumped up the speed, running 31 yards straight into the end zone for the touchdown! Badgley's PAT is good and the Lions take the lead yet again with 13:13 to go in the final quarter.

Gibbs picks up 8 to the Bucs 31 - 2nd and 2

Goff connects with Reynolds for 18 yards and another 1st down

Goff pass to Gibbs and he picks up 12 yards - 1st down

END THIRD QUARTER

After the touchdown, there was a touchback. Then it was Montgomery taking the ball up 6 yards for 2nd and 4.

To start the 4th quarter, we have a tie game, as the Bucs made ANOTHER last-second score at the end of the quarter.

And the Bucs have come back to tie it again! Mayfield made several big connections to Otton to make it down the field and finally it was a pass to White, who took it up 12 yards to the end zone for the touchdown. McLaughlin's PAT was good to make it a tie game with 10 seconds left in the 3rd quarter.

Mayfield escapes the sack twice but on the second, he's pulled down just as he's throwing the ball - incomplete, 3rd and 10

Mayfield pass incomplete to Thompkins - 2nd and 10 

Mayfield and Otton are on fire! He passes deep and Otton is wide open for a gain of 27 to the Lions 12!

Mayfield escapes pressure, keeps the play alive and gets it away to Otton for a gain of 13! What a play! 

Mayfield pass to Otton complete and he picks up 9 and the 1st

Edmonds taken down by Branch but he actually moves him forward a bit for a gain of 4 - 2nd and 6

Bucs' White was injured during the play

Mayfield's pass to Otton was incomplete and a Holding call on Lions' Melifonwu gives Bucs another 5 and the automatic 1st down

Sutton takes Thompkins back 6 yards, but an Offsides call on Lions' Branch gives them a free 5 - 1st and 5 Bucs

Touchback

The Lions made some big plays to get down into Bucs territory and once there, they took a while to get past the 1 and into the end zone, but a 4th try was the charm. Goff handed it off tp Reynolds and he took it up the middle and into the end zone for the touchdown. Badgley's PAT was good and the Lions have stolen the lead back again with 4:23 in the 3rd quarter.

And it pays off as Reynolds runs it in!

Oh, you know they goin' for it!

Goff pass incomplete again, way too high to LaPorta - 4th and goal.

Will they go for it?? Or play it safe with a field goal?

Goff pass incomplete to Reynolds in the end zone, broken up by Dean - 3rd and goal

Goff hands it off to Montgomery and he takes it up 4 yards to the 1! 2nd and goal

Goff pass to St. Brown is caught and he takes off down the field all the way to the 5 for 11 yards - 1st and goal

Bucs' Diaby was injured on the play

Goff pass to LaPorta complete for 2, just enough for the 1st down

Gibbs picks up another 8 yards - 2nd and 2 at the 18

Goff pass complete to Wright and he takes off for a huge gain of 29 yards all the way to the Bucs 26!

Montgomery tackled after a yard - 3rd and 1

Goff pass to St. Brown complete for a pickup of 8 yards - 2nd and 2

Camarda punts 41 yards to the Lions 23 and Peoples-Jones takes it up 8 yards to the 31.

An Illegal Formation call on the Bucs gives them 5 extra yards so it'll be 1st and 10 from the 36.

Mayfield pass deep is incomplete to Evans and it's a 3-and-out for the Bucs

Mayfield's pass incomplete to Otton, broken up by Joseph - 3rd and 14 already

Branch and Barnes take down White for a loss of 4 yards - 2nd and 14

Fox punts 45 yards to Bucs 40, downed by Reeves-Maybin

Goff makes the pass to LaPorta but Izien takes hiim down at the 15 for just 7 yards.

Lions punt on 4th and 10 

Goff makes the pass to Reynolds for a huge gain of 25 yards but unfortunately for them, Montgomery is called on a Chop Block for a loss of 7 more yards - repeat 3rd down (and 17)

Goff makes two incomplete passes in a row to bring up 3rd and 10

Camarda punts it 42 yards to the Lions 5 and Peoples-Jones takes it up 10 yards to the Lions 15.

Lions get called for Illegal Block in the Back - 7 yards

Mayfield SACKED by Hutchinson for a loss of 9 yards! That puts them all the way back to the 47. Ouch.

Evans makes the catch for 5 yards - 3rd and 4

White picks up 1, Barnes makes the tackle - 2nd and 9 

White takes it up again and he picks up a big 14 yards for another 1st 

White takes it up 5 yards - 2nd and 5

Mayfield pass complete to Godwin for 12yards and the 1st down

START SECOND HALF

And we're back! Fox made the punt - touchback.

Bucs offense is taking the field to start the second half. 10-10. Let's go!

Mayfield-Otton for a TD just in time

Bucs tie the game 15 seconds before halftime

Lions got a sack of their own too

Goff was sacked by Kancey in the second quarter

Goff-Reynolds put Lions ahead at the start of second quarter

Branch having a game

Branch made this sack plus six tackles (5 solos)

Mayfield took a few sacks in the first half

Melifonwu made this one

HALFTIME

And that takes us to the end of the first half!

The Bucs have made it a tie game just in time for halftime! The Lions led the game for most of the first half, but Mayfield's pass to Otton in the end zone evened it up.

The Bucs will get the ball to start the second half.

Mayfield made the pass to Otton for 2 yards in the end zone and the officials said there was no flag - touchdown stands. McLaughlin's PAT is good and the Bucs have tied it up with 15 seconds until halftime.

Mayfield pass CAUGHT by Otton in the end zone but there's a flag on the play....

Bucs take second timeout

Evans does it again! He takes off to make another deep pass and he does so, falling at the 2-yard line for the 29-yard catch - 1st and goal

Mayfield pass to Evans is caught and he takes off for a huge gain of 27 yards and steps out of bounds to stop the clock

Mayfield scrambles up 14 yards to make the 1st down and Bucs take first timeout to stop the clock

Mayfield pass complete to Palmer for 9 yards, just short - 3rd and 1

Mayfield pass to Evans incomplete - 2nd and 10

Mayfield hands it off to White and he runs it up 11 yards for the 1st down

Fox punts 47 yards to Bucs 8, Thompkins calls for the fair catch

Lions take first timeout 

Lions' Ragnow was injured on the play

Goff SACKED by Kancey for a loss of 5 yards - 4th and 6

Game clock has been re-set to 1:46 with 30 on the play clock and they'll replay from that point - 3rd and 1

OH! Well, nevermind that. The officials are saying St. Brown was down after just 5 yards so it'll be 3rd and 2.

Goff pass to St. Brown and he pushes forward for 7 yards for the 1st down

TWO-MINUTE WARNING

With 2 minutes left in the first half, the Lions are in the lead 10-3. 

They have the ball at 2nd and 6 on their own 44 after the Bucs missed a 50-yard field goal try on their last drive.

Montgomery picks up 4 yards - 2nd and 6

McLaughlin's 50-yard field goal try is NO GOOD! It hit the upper left goalpost. 

The Lions will take over at their own 40.

Mayfield's pass to Godwin is too high, incomplete. 

Bucs will try for a field goal on 4th down.

Edmonds picks up 5 yards and it's 3rd down and 5

Mayfield gets away from a third sack but under pressure by Jones, he throws the ball away - 2nd down

Mayfield pass caught by Otton and he runs it up for another 14 yards - 1st down

Mayfield pass to White is caught and he turns on the speed to pick up 10yards for the 1st down

Mayfield gives it to White and he gets 3.- 3rd and 7 

Godwin is taken down immediately by Hutchinson and there's no gain - 2nd and 10

Mayfield makes a deep pass to Evans for 23 yards to the 36

Fox punts 43 yards to Bucs 13 - Thompkins calls for the fair catch

Goff has time but his toss to St. Brown was incomplete as he couldn't make the catch. Lions will punt at 4th and 10

Goff's pass to Williams knocked away by Dean - 3rd and 10

Goff passes deep downfield, but it's incomplete to Williams 

Goff pass to LaPorta caught and he's off for 12 yards to the 44 and the 1st down

Montgomery picks up a yard - 2nd and 9

Goff pass to LaPorta caught for 4 yards - 1st down

Goff sees an opening and he takes off for 7 yards - 2nd and 3

NFL

Baker Mayfield’s contract details: Salary, years left with the Buccaneers

They don't. The Lions punt it back - touchback.

Mayfield gets the ball away to Edmonds and he runs it up all the way to JUST short of the line again and the Bucs are at 4th and 1. Do they go for it?

Mayfield passes to Edmonds and he's down just short of the 1st down.

Then the Bucs get a PassInterference call on Otton and they'll repeat the 3rd down from 10 yards back

Edmonds gets another yard - 3rd and 5

Mayfield passes it to Evans for 4 yards - 2nd and 6

Touchback

Goff makes the pass to Reynolds for 9 yards into the end zone and Badgley's PAT is good. The Lions take the lead with 12:33 to go in the first half.

Goff tosses left to Gibbs and he takes it up 5 yards - 3rd and 5

Goff tosses it to St. Brown but he can't quite get to it in the end zone and it's incomplete - 2nd and 10 from the Bucs 14

Goff makes the pass to a wide open LaPorta and this time, he's caught it for 15 yards to the Bucs 14

Goff to LaPorta for 2 yards - 2nd and 8

Goff pass at the last minute to LaPorta is CAUGHT for 13 yards - 1st down

END FIRST QUARTER

And that'll take us to the end of the 1st quarter! 

The Lions and Bucs are tied at 3-3 after getting a field goal each.  Mayfield has thrown one interception and been sacked twice.

The Lions have the ball at the Bucs 44 on 3rd down and 4 when we start the 2nd quarter here at Ford Field.

Goff tosses under pressure and it's caught by Cabinda but there's no gain - 3rd and 4

Gibbs takes it up 6 yards - 2nd and 4

Goff makes a perfect pass to St. Brown and it's good for 5 yards for the 1st down at the 50

Britt and Gholston stop Gibbs getting anywhere - 3rd and 2

Goff pass complete to St. Brown for 8 yards - 2nd and 2

Goff takes it up himsel for 3 yards to get the 1st down

Gibbs takes it again for 6, tripped just at the end by David - 3rd and 1

Goff pass to Gibbs is caught for 3 yards - 2nd and 7

Touchback

The Buccaneers tied it up with a McLaughlin 43-yard field goal. Mayfield took his second sack of the game as the Lions defense kept them out of the end zone. 3-3 with 4:19 to go in the first quarter.

BUCS FIELD GOAL!

Edmonds picks up 9 yards to the 25 and the Bucs will try for the field goal

Mayfield scrambles up and slides at the 34 for 1 yard - 3rd and 18 

Mayfield gets SACKED by Branch for a loss of 9 yards - 2nd and 19

Mayfield tosses it to Palmer and he takes off for 23 yards to the Lions 26

Mayfield pass deep to Evans complete this time for 18yards - 1st down

Mayfield's pass to Evans broken up by Sutton - 3rd and 2

White takes it up 8 - 2nd and 2

Touchback

Mayfield threw an interception caught by Gardner-Johnson and that allowed the Lions to get just yards away from the end zone. The Bucs defense showed up to stop them getting in though and instead they brought up Badgley for the 23-yard field goal. Lions take the lead with 8:25 to go in the first quarter.

LIONS FIELD GOAL!

Montgomery is stopped by Britt and taken back a yard - 4th and goal at the 4. Lions will go for the field goal...

Goff threw into the end zone and it was JUST barely NOT intercepted by Dean - they're lucky to be at 3rd and goal

Gibbs runs it up 5 yards to the 3 - 2nd and goal

Face Mask on Bucs' McCollum - 9 yards (added at the end of the run). That brings the Lions to 1st and goal at the 8.

Goff throws a perfect pass to Williams for 11 yards and the 1st down but there's a flag on the play...

Goff pass incomplete to LaPorta - 2nd and 10

Holding on Bucs' Kancey, automatic 1st down for the Lions

Lions trying to get that run game going, Montgomery picks up 5 more

Lions back on offense and Montgomery gets 4 yards to the 39 - 2nd and 6

Mayfield's pass was TIPPED and then INTERCEPTED by Gardner-Johnson who took off for 12 yards to the Bucs 41

Mayfield SACKED by Melifonwu for a loss of 8 yards - 3rd and 17

White takes it up again but gets just a yard this time, taken down by Branch and McNeill - 2nd and 9

Mayfield hands it off to White and he breaks through for 16 yards - 1st down

Mayfield tosses it down the middle to White for a gain of 8 - 2nd and 2

Fox punts 48 yards to Bucs 20 and Thompkins takes it but is tackled by Harris at the 20 for no gain

3-and-out Lions

Kancey knocks Goff's pass away and it's incomplete. Lions have gone 3 and out to start the game and will punt it back.

This time Goff gets a completion to Montgomery and he's good for a 7-yard pickup

Goff hesitates under pressure and tosses it too high to Montgomery, incomplete - 2nd and 10

GAME TIME!

The Lions have won the toss and elected to receive!

Detroit starts us off on offense in this NFC Divisional Round.

LET'S GO!

Rushing vs Passing - which will win?

The Lions are winning games when they do well in rushing. The Buccaneers are winning games when they do well in passing.

The Lions are 7-0 when they gain 142+ rushing yards in a game and 10-3 when they gain more than 115. The Bucs are just 2-6 when giving up 100+ rush yards.

The Bucs are 3-0 when putting up 300+ passing yards and the Lions are just 4-3 when allosing 300+ passing yards. 

Which will be the move to lead to success? The Bucs' pass game or the Lions' run game?

Lions motivational speech!

The home-field advantage

Last week's Wild Card game at FordField when the Lions beat the Rams was electric. Eminem was in the stands and the whole stadium was singing "Lose Yourself" ahead of the game.

The fans are going to play a part in this game, as they are witnessing something they may have wondered if/when they ever would as the Lions advance in the postseason. Now they've been challenged with the task of making enough noise to throw the Buccaneers.

Last week, the decibel levels reached 133.6 at one point and this week they'll try to best that. They were able to throw off the Rams, forcing them to take timeouts to avoid Delay of Game, unable to hear above the crowd. With a score as close as theirs was, those moments proved crucial in the final minutes. 

Can the Lions stop the pass game?

The Lions defense ranks 27th in pass defense, allowing an average 247.4 passing yards per game. Over just the last four games, it's gotten even worse, increasing to 379.8 yards per game.

That's...not good news for today. when they'll be up against top receivers Mike Evans and Chris Godwin. 

Despite these stats, however, in their first matchup in Week 6, the Lions defense did a great job at containing the Bucs receivers. They held Evans to just four catches on 10 targets for 49 yards. While Godwin had a slightly better night, catching six of seven passes for 77 yards, neither one was able to get a score.

Can they hold them again tonight?

Let's talk quarterbacks

Jared Goff vs Baker Mayfield

Lions quarterback Jared Goff and Buccaneers quarterback BakerMayfield have a lot in common.

They were both No. 1 Draft picks, two years apart. They were both sort of given up on after they had some rough seasons in the NFL. Goff's Lions went 3-13 in his first season in Detroit. Mayfield, despite leading the Browns to their first playoff game since 2002, was pushed to the backburner to make room for DeShaun Watson. Mayfield then went to the Panthers for a minute, then the Rams, winning just one game as a starter before they let him go, too. Then, Tom Brady retired and the Bucs replaced him with Mayfield.

Matthew Stafford, who was the Lions starting quarterback before Goff, won a Super Bowl the year he was traded to the Rams. This year, Goff’s Lions knocked Stafford and the Rams out of the playoffs after taking them to their first home playoff game in 32 years.

And now Mayfield is playing in the Bucs as NFC South winners and in the Divisional Round of the playoffs after being cast aside three times.

Oh, well that's embarrassing...

But hey, it's nice they won't have to worry about the frigid temps!

Back in the game

When the Bucs and Lions played each other in Week 6, Detroit was missing some crucial players...

-Running back Jahmyr Gibbs 

-Guard Jonah Jackson

-Cornerback Brian Branch

-Safety C.J. Gardner-Johnson

-Defensive lineman Josh Paschal

-Edge rusher James Houston 

And RB David Montgomery had to leave the game in the first half.

All of those key players should be back to face the Buccaneers today. They were able to win 20-6 without them. How will they do with them?

Lions lead series over Bucs

The Lions hold the lead in the regular season series against the Buccanners at 32-28. The Bucs, however, lead 1-0 in the playoffs. 

The last time these two teams met was in Week 6 of this season, when the Lions beat the Bucs 20-6. This will be their first time meeting in the postseason since 1997, when the Bucs beat the Lions 20-10 in the Wild Card round.

Bucs and Lions - How did they get here?

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers ended the regular season 9-8 and won the NFC South with that record, for a record third straight season. That's how they were able to host last week's Wild Card game against the Eagles. 

In that game, the Bucs obliterated Philly, sending them home after an embarrassing 32-9 final score. The Bucs are no strangers to the playoffs, having qualified in the last four seasons in a row and having made it there a total of 14 times overall.

That's quite different than the Lions, who we mentioned just won their first playoff game iin over three decades. They finished the regular season at 12-5 (quite the improvement from last season) and won the NFC North, their first division title since 1993.

The last time the Lions were even in the playoffs was back in 2016. This time, they get the home-field advantage, another first since 1993. And it's the first time in franchise history that they host two home playoff games. Their path here started off hot and never slowed down - they beat the defending Super Bowl champs Chiefs in the NFL season opener and then started the season 8-2. They finished with an offense that ranked top five in both points and yards per game.

More of the latest news on the the NFC teams left in the postseason...for now.

Lions hoping to keep momentum

The Lions have made it further than they have in a long, long time. Last week's Wild Card win over the Los Angeles Rams was their first postseason win in 32 years.

Today, they will have the advantage of hosting the game at Ford Field again as they take on the NFC's No. 4 Tampa Bay Buccaneers. If they win, they will be playing in their first NFC Championship Game since 1991 and would face the NFC top seed San Francisco 49ers.

Good afternoon everyone and welcome to our live coverage of today's NFC Divisional Round playoff game between the Detroit Lions and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers!

Kickoff will be at 3 p.m. from Ford Field in Detroit, Michigan. It's Jen here today to bring you all the pre-game buildup, live scores, highlights, stats, and commentary throughout the game, and all the fallout from after. 

Let's go!