While the Tampa Bay Buccaneers didn't play in primetime this week, the game that did happen on Sunday night will have a ripple effect on next Monday's matchup.
The Bucs will be in Detroit to face the Lions, who are reeling from a loss in Kansas City on Sunday. Not only did the Lions lose the game, but they also lost star safety Brian Branch, who was suspended for one game by the league for slapping JuJu Smith-Schuster in the postgame scrum.
It was a diabolically stupid move by Branch, but one that turns into a fantastically lucky break for the Bucs.
Buccaneers catch a huge break thanks to Brian Branch suspension
With Branch out for Monday's game, Baker Mayfield and the high-flying offense will be facing a Detroit secondary without five of its players. Terrion Arnold, Avonte Maddox, and Loren Strickland are all injured, and the Lions watched Kirby Joseph leave Sunday night's game early as well.
Tampa Bay has been carving up defenses all season, averaging 27.5 points per game, and is hot off back-to-back performances of 30 or more points. Baker is playing like an MVP despite missing key players like Bucky Irving and Chris Godwin, and Mike Evans.
Emeka Egbuka is now being added to the growing heap of injured players, but the Bucs might be getting Evans back in time for Monday night's game. That makes the absence of Branch even bigger, especially given everything that's on the line.
With the win over San Francisco on Sunday, Tampa Bay moved into the top spot in the NFC and control the No. 1 seed. A win over Detroit next Monday would mean a nice two-game buffer heading into the second half of the season, something that just became even more possible thanks to the Branch suspension.
The Bucs still need to take care of business, but we've seen them battle hard all season long in tough matchups. This won't be any different, but not having Branch on the field is a huge break that Tampa Bay will certainly take.