Buccaneers pack pain of playoff loss for trip back to Detroit

TAMPA BAY, Fla. — A marvelous season ended, but it wasn’t over.

When the Bucs walked into the cold outside of Ford Field last January, having lost 31-23 to the Detroit Lions in an NFC division playoff game, they knew they would be back.

You don’t come within a two-minute drive of playing to go to the Super Bowl without wanting more.

The Bucs lost twice to Detroit last year, including once at Raymond James Stadium.

The showdown in Motown on Sunday won’t end anyone’s season. It’s only Week 2. But there are games where you stretch the sticks and ask for a measurement of your team.

This is one of them.

“Well, as a player, you hear all offseason who’s the favorite, and Detroit was on top of the list,” Bucs co-defensive coordinator Larry Foote said. “They did end our season last year but ... this is a good team. This is going to be a challenge.

“Last year, that atmosphere — even being from Detroit and playing a year there — that stadium, that was a special place and I’m looking forward to going back there and (being) in that environment. Hopefully we come out with the ‘W’ this time.”

In some ways, the playoff loss to the Lions proved to the Bucs that they could be a Super Bowl contender.

But their effort wasn’t good enough. Before he even left Ford Field that night, defensive tackle Vita Vea pledged to general manager Jason Licht that he would return in the best playing shape of his career in 2024.

Others, such as outside linebackers Yaya Diaby and Joe Tryon-Shoyinka followed suit.

The hope of taking another step with the Bucs is what also encouraged players such as Mike Evans, Mayfield, Antoine Winfield Jr. and Tristan Wirfs to sign long-term extensions to remain in Tampa Bay.

“You can definitely sense it already, within our building, when you put up the personnel, the game records, the scouting report, all that and you talk about the atmosphere, the memories instantly pop up and our guys are ready,” Mayfield said. “You know, it’s obviously a topic of conversation of they ended our year and so it’s one that we’ve been looking forward to and it just so happens to be the one this week.”

There are many parallels to the Lions’ success and the Bucs’ resurgence.

Start with the quarterbacks, both former No. 1 overall picks discarded by the teams that drafted them.

Jared Goff helped lead the Rams to the Super Bowl in the 2018 season, when they fell 13-3 to Tom Brady’s Patriots. But a few years later, they traded Goff and three draft picks, including two first-rounders, to the Lions for quarterback Matthew Stafford.

Still, the move wasn’t a bad one for Goff, who led the Lions to the NFC Championship Game last season, where they lost to the 49ers.

Goff has had his way with Todd Bowles’ defense for most of his career with the Rams and Lions. He’s averaged 383 passing yards in four games against Bowles’ defense in Tampa Bay. That’s the most of 15 quarterbacks with three or more starts against the Bucs during that period.

Meanwhile, Mayfield’s journey took him from Cleveland to Carolina, to the Rams and finally the Bucs in a span of about 18 months. After leading Tampa Bay to an NFC South title and wild-card playoff win over Philadelphia, he signed a three-year, $100 million contract in the offseason.

“I’m a huge Jared fan,” Mayfield said of Goff. “Much like me, sometimes it takes a different spot to feel comfortable and I just think he fits what they’re doing and he does it at a very high level. He’s not a flashy guy by any means, but he distributes the ball really well, so I’m a fan.”

The Bucs’ playoff loss at Detroit also exposed some weaknesses they tried to address in the offseason. Tampa Bay was outrushed 114-89 yards in the game. The addition of center Graham Barton, the team’s first-round pick, and Giants free agent Ben Bredenson has fortified the offensive line.

Defensively, the Bucs lacked some speed and playmakers. After being tied with the Lions to start the fourth quarter back in January, Detroit had 183 yards of offense in the final period.

So Tampa Bay brought back safety Jordan Whitehead after his two seasons with the Jets and added defensive back Tykee Smith and outside linebacker Chris Braswell in the draft.

“I might mention to my players that we wore down a little bit,” Foote said.

Unfortunately for the Bucs, injuries will prevent them from being at full strength today. All-Pro safety Winfield, defensive tackle Calijah Kancey and right tackle Luke Goedeke will miss the game. Cornerback Zyon McCollum was cleared from concussion protocol and will start.

But injuries aside, the Bucs know how big this game is. They remember falling 20-6 to the Lions at Raymond James Stadium, the only game they failed to score an offensive touchdown in last season. They still feel the chill of their season ending on that frigid Detroit night.

Sure, it’s only Week 2. Every game counts the same, but somehow it feels like this one matters more.

“Yeah, this is definitely one of those,” Mayfield said. “I mean, every week you have to bring your best stuff. At this level, if you don’t show up you can get beat any given week. This is one of those — on the road with a team who was in the NFC championship, where we aspire to be, so it’s one of those — measuring sticks to great competition (and) see how our guys handle it early on.

“You know, it’s a long season but we can learn a lot from this one.”

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