In an instant classic, the Detroit Lions recorded a 31-23 win over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in Sunday's NFC divisional round matchup. Dan Campbell's team will now travel to San Francisco next Sunday to face the 49ers in the NFC Championship Game. The winner will represent the conference in Super Bowl LVIII.
Detroit punched its ticket to San Francisco when linebacker Derrick Barnes picked off Buccaneers quarterback Baker Mayfield with 1:35 left.
Tied through three quarters, the Lions built a 31-17 lead on fourth-quarter touchdowns by Jahmyr Gibbs and Amon-Ra St. Brown. The Buccaneers refused to give in, however, making it a one possession game on Mayfield's touchdown pass to Mike Evans with 4:37 left (the two were unable to connect on Tampa's ensuing two-point conversion try).
The Buccaneers' offense got one last shot after their defense forced a punt on the Lions' next drive. But the Lions iced the game when Barnes recorded Detroit's second pick of Mayfield, who threw for 349 yards and three touchdowns in a losing effort. Mayfield's counterpart, Jared Goff, threw for 287 yards and two touchdowns while directing a Lions' offense that scored touchdowns on three straight drives in the second half.
Here are our takeaways from this epic game.
Why the Lions won
Detroit's offense took control of the game in the second half, while its defense came up with two big stops to preserve the win.
After an underwhelming first half -- the teams were tied 10-10 at the break -- the Lions' offense caught fire in the second half. They did so by finding the soft spots in the middle of Tampa Bay's defense. Goff, who threw for 99 yards in the first half, threw for 188 in the second half. A large chunk of that production came on completions to St. Brown, who had 5 catches for 59 yards in the second half after just 18 yards on 3 grabs in the game's first 30 minutes. Tight end Sam LaPorta also came up big with 65 yards on 9 catches.
Goff's success through the air opened things up for the Lions' running game, which came up with a major fourth-down score on Craig Reynolds' 1-yard plunge that gave Detroit a 17-10 lead late in the third quarter.
Tampa Bay tied the scored on its next drive as the teams headed into the final quarter tied 17-17, but the Lions countered with two more drives in the fourth that ended up in the Buccaneers' end zone. One of the game's biggest plays during these sequences was a 16-yard completion from Goff to St. Brown on a 3rd-and-15 play that helped set up the duo's go-ahead score moments later.
Why the Buccaneers lost
Tampa Bay battled, but did not execute at a high enough level to pull off the upset. A missed field goal in the first half hurt, along with Aidan Hutchinson's sack of Mayfield on the Buccaneers' first drive of the second half that knocked the Bucs out of field goal range.
They had their moments, but the Buccaneers defense's inability to get off the field during the Lions' second half scoring spree was critical. They specifically struggled to prevent big plays on the Lions' third consecutive scoring drive that included four plays of at least 11 yards.
Now that we've covered all that, Todd Bowles and his team deserves a ton of credit for pushing the Lions to the brink. Mayfield didn't win, but his performance Sunday was further evidence that he is the long-term answer at quarterback in Tampa. Mayfield, as he was all year, was complemented by the brilliance of Evans, a future Hall of Fame wideout who had eight catches for 147 yards and a score in what was possibly his final game in a Buccaneers uniform.
Turning point
As Goff said afterwards, the Lions' ability to play complementary football was one of the biggest differences in the game.
After Tampa Bay tied the score just before the end of the third quarter, the Lions' offense proceeded to drive 75 yards on just five plays and re-gained the lead on Gibbs' touchdown. Detroit's defense then forced Mayfield into three straight incompletions, leading to a Buccaneers punt.
With the ball and a 24-17 lead, the Lions finally got some separation by embarking on a 10-play, 89-yard drive that included five big completions from Goff and his second touchdown pass of the day.
Play of the game
In a game that had a lot of big plays, the biggest one was Barnes' pick of Mayfield that sent the Lions to the NFC title game. On the play, Barnes stepped in front of Buccaneers tight end Cade Otton before catching and securing the pick.
Quotables
"I just love my guys. When you play with guys like him (Goff) and all those guys in that locker room, you're going to find a way. ... It's incredible, it's hard to put in to words, but with [Goff] at the helm, we're not done yet." -- Lions center Frank Ragnow (during his postgame interview with NBC), who played through a knee injury and was the key blocker on Reynolds' fourth-down touchdown run
"I get to go back home a little bit. Play in front of some friends and family. They're a great team, and it will be a great matchup." -- Goff, a California native, told NBC Sports when asked about the upcoming matchup with the 49ers
"It sucks. I feel like my heart just got ripped out," -- Mayfield, via NFL Media
What's next
The Lions will play in their first NFC Championship Game since 1991, when they fell to eventual champion Washington. Detroit is vying to play in its first-ever Super Bowl and is also hoping to snap its 66-year title drought.
Tampa Bay's season is over, but it has a lot of be proud of. The Buccaneers' 2023 season included the franchise's third straight division title and a Super Wild Card Weekend win over the defending NFC champion Eagles.