The NFC South was the laughing stock of the NFL this season but all of a sudden the Tampa Bay Buccaneers find themselves in the Divisional Round of the playoffs after upsetting the Philadelphia Eagles on Monday night.
Now, the Bucs will hit the road to take on the Detroit Lions with a berth in the NFC Championship on the line!
In this article, I'm going to break down everything you need to know to bet on this game.
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Buccaneers vs. Lions odds, spread, and total
Buccaneers vs. Lions betting trends
- Buccaneers are 5-1 ATS in their last six games
- The UNDER is 4-1 in the Bucs' last five games
- Buccaneers are 4-11 ATS in their last 15 games vs. Lions
- Buccaneers are 8-1 ATS in their last nine road games
- Buccaneers are 8-2 ATS in their last 10 games vs. NFC North opponents
- Lions are 4-1 ATS in their last five games
- Lions are 5-1 ATS in their last six games vs. NFC South opponents
- The OVER is 7-3 in the Lions' last 10 games
Buccaneers vs. Lions injury reports
Tampa Bay Buccaneers injury report
- There are no players on the Bucs' active injury report
Detroit Lions injury report
- Kalif Raymond - WR - Questionable
- James Mitchell - TE - IR
- Jerry Jacobs - CB - IR
Buccaneers vs. Lions how to watch
- Date: Sunday, January 21
- Game Time: 3:00 pm ET
- Venue: Ford Field
- How to Watch (TV): NBC
- Tampa Bay Buccaneers Record: 9-8
- Detroit Lions Record: 12-5
Buccaneers vs. Lions key players to watch
Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Cade Otton: The Buccaneers may just have the most underrated tight end in the NFL in Cade Otton. He was their top receiver in their Wild Card win against the Eagles, hauling in eight receptions for 89 yards. If they can get him going again against the Lions, they're going to be in a great spot.
Detroit Lions
CJ Gardner-Johnson: If the Lions wants to continue their playoff run, their secondary needs to sharpen up. CJ Gardner-Johnson will play a big role in that as he will be tasked with shutting down the likes of Mike Evans and Chris Godwin.
Buccaneers vs. Lions prediction and pick
The Lions defense allowed the Rams to average a staggering 7.7 yards per play and 9.4 yards per pass attempt. Luckily for them, Sean McVay made some terrible decisions throughout the game including poor clock management and the Rams went 0-3 in the red zone.
The Buccaneers certainly aren't as good offensively as the Rams, but they have the weapons in the pass game to attack this Lions secondary. Mike Evans, Chris Godwin, and Cade Otton are more than enough to take down a Lions defense that's 30th in opponent yards per pass attempt (7.3) and 25th in both opponent dropback EPA and opponent dropback success rate.
The biggest question of the game will be which version of Baker Mayfield will show up, but if it's the same version that showed up against the Eagles, the Lions could be in for a scare.
One key area to keep an eye on in this one is the Lions red zone offense. It's what won them the game against the Rams, scoring a touchdown on all three trips to the red zone. They sport the second best red zone offense in the NFL, scoring a touchdown on 65.67% of red zone trips. Now, they face a Buccaneers defense that's third in the league in that area, keeping teams to scoring a touchdown on just 42.86% of red zone trips.
If the Bucs can force field goals instead of touchdowns at key moments of this game, they're going to be in a good spot to cover this spread.
Odds refresh periodically and are subject to change.
You can check out all of Iain's bets here!