If there's one common theme throughout the Tampa Bay Buccaneers season, it's not trusting what experts say.
Before the season the Bucs were predicted to be one of the worst teams in the league, if not the worst, with the team being given almost no shot to do anything in the wake of Tom Brady retiring. To be fair, the deck was stacked against Tampa, as Brady left a huge hole at quarterback as well as a massive salary cap bill that needed to be paid.
Jason Licht channeled his inner-Han Solo and refused to listen to the odds, putting together a masterful offseason that should win him Executive of the Year. The Bucs signed Baker Mayfield to perhaps the most valuable $8.5M contract ever, and turned what was supposed to be a season of resetting into a fourth consecutive trip to the playoffs.
Now the Bucs are among the final four teams left standing in the NFC (technically three at the time of kickoff since the Packers are out) and are just two wins away from returning to the Super Bowl. It would be one of the most miraculous and improbable runs to a championship, but not many experts are predicting that it will happen.
NFL expert predictions for Buccaneers vs. Lions Divisional Round game
Among the major outlets and media members predicting the game, only small group of experts are brave enough to pick the Bucs to win.
- Michael Irvin, NFL Network
- Conor Orr, MMQB
- John Pluym, MMQB
- Pete Prisco, CBS Sports
Note: We'll keep updating that small list with whoever else picks the Bucs.
ESPN NFL Countdown
Last week the Countdown crew broke the cliche, with everyone on the panel picking Tampa Bay over Philly and watching that prediction come true. It's typically the kiss of death to have agreement across the board on a pick, which Bucs fans are hoping is a script that gets flipped again with everyone at ESPN picking Detroit to win.
Expert | Pick |
|---|---|
Scott Van Pelt | Lions |
Ryan Clark | Lion |
Marcus Spears | Lions |
Robert Griffin III | Lions |
Good Morning Football
Nobody at GMFB is giving the Bucs a chance either. This isn't surprising, but it's a little dissapointing to see Peter Schrager become a turncoat at the last minute and go against Tampa Bay after having hyped them up so much this season.
Ditto with Kyle Brandt, but it's hard to see him not going with Detroit and buying into the vibes. If there's a team that epitomizes Angry Run Energy, it's admittedly the Lions.
Expert | Pick |
|---|---|
Kyle Brandt | Lions |
Jason McCourtey | Lions |
Jamie Erdahl | Lions |
Peter Schrager | Lions |
Sports Illustrated/MMQB
Two brave souls dared to break rank over at MMQB. Conor Orr and John Pluym both picked the Bucs to win, which stood out against everyone else over there picking the Lions.
Expert | Pick |
|---|---|
Albert Breer | Lions |
Matt Verderame | Lions |
Mitch Goldich | Lions |
Claire Kuwana | Lions |
Gilbert Manzano | Lions |
Conor Orr | Bucs |
John Pluym | Bucs |
ESPN.com
The ESPN memo to pick the Lions reached the dot com crew, all of whom picked Detroit. Notably, this wasn't a unanimous decision clean sweep as last time around both Jeremy Fowler and Seth Wickersham picked the Bucs back in Week 6.
Not so much this time.
Expert | Pick |
|---|---|
Jeremy Fowler | Lions |
Seth Wickersham | Lions |
Dan Graziano | Lions |
Kimberly Martin | Lions |
Lindsey Thiry | Lions |
Mike Clay | Lions |
Eric Moody | Lions |
Matt Bowen | Lions |
CBS Sports
Pete Prisco died on the Bucs hill back in Week 6 and he's back at it again. The rest of the CBS Sports crew picked Detroit.
Expert | Pick |
|---|---|
Pete Prisco | Bucs |
Will Brinson | Lions |
Jared Dubin | Lions |
Ryan Wilson | Lions |
John Breech | Lions |
Tyler Sullivan | Lions |
Jamey Eisenberg | Lions |
Dave Richards | Lions |
It's an overwhelming amount of support for the Detroit Lions, but lest we forget how wrong these experts have been about the Bucs in the past. Feels like a good opportunity to once again prove everyone wrong.