The Tampa Bay Buccaneers look to make it three wins in a row and maintain their number one seed position, in the NFC, against the Detroit Lions.

The Buccaneers are 5-1 and just beat the San Francisco 49ers, 30-19. It was a close first half and the Bucs defense picked things up in the second half to slowly pull away. Tampa Bay lost in time of possession, but picked up two turnovers, and went 2-for-2 in the red zone. The Bucs offense was just a little more efficient in the passing game and the defense sacked the quarterback six times. Quarterback Baker Mayfield led the way on offense with 256 yards, on 17 of 23 completed passes, and two touchdowns.

The Lions are 4-2 and just lost to the Kansas City Chiefs, 30-17. It was a close first half and the Chiefs built up a 10-point lead in the second half. The passing and rushing yards were pretty close and so was time of possession. This game was lost in the red zone, where Detroit was 1-for-2 and Kansas City was 4-for-6. There were no turnovers in this game and the Chiefs converted on a couple fourth downs, and benefited from a few Lions penalties. Quarterback Jared Goff went 23 of 29, for 203 yards, and two touchdowns.

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Note: The above data was collected on Oct. 20, 2025, and may have changed since writing.

Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Detroit Lions

Tampa Bay is currently ranked seventh in passing yards, 20th in rushing yards, sixth in points scored, and 24th in points against. The Bucs receiving core is banged up and Chris Godwin and rookie Emeka Egbuka might be out for this game. Whether the team is injured or not, Mayfield has found a way to continue to stack up the wins. Tampa is 3-0 on the road and all of those wins were by three points or fewer. The Bucs rushing defense will look to slow down the Lions' rushing game depth and the passing defense will try to keep the sacks going.

Detroit is currently 14th in passing yards, eighth in rushing yards, second in points scored, and 18th in points against. The Lions secondary has some injuries going for them, and they might struggle to stop some big passing plays. However, they will have their explosive running game going for them and great playmakers on the receiving end like Amon-Ra St. Brown. This team is 2-0 at home and those games were blowouts. This is a huge game for an early first seed standing in the NFC and Detroit knows that they can keep up with Tampa Bay's production on offense.

Best Bet: Lions Spread

The Buccaneers have beaten some solid opponents on the road this season, and it took some late-game heroics and even some late comebacks to pull it off. Tampa can't have a slow start in this game or the Lions will run away with it. This game will come down to who takes care of the ball more and converts more in the red zone.