The Tampa Bay Buccaneers ‘ insurgent playoff run came to an end at the hands of the Detroit Lions last January, but quarterback Baker Mayfield believes his team will find out a lot about itself and its postseason aspirations when the two teams meet on Sunday afternoon.
Fresh off dispatching the Washington Commanders in the season opener, Mayfield and the Buccaneers return to Detroit aiming to make a statement against a Lions team that edged out the Los Angeles Rams, 26-20, in overtime last Sunday night.
For Mayfield, Sunday’s clash has the feel of a measuring stick.
“Yeah, this is definitely one of those,” Mayfield told the team’s website. “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 – you said it, 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.”
Mayfield was one of the standout performers across the league in Week 1, passing for 289 yards with four touchdowns against Washington, but Detroit’s defense presents a more daunting challenge.
Some NFL coaches and executives have even suggested that Buccaneers vs. Lions has the potential to be an NFC Championship Game preview, but Mayfield is absolutely correct that we are about to find out just how legitimately to take Tampa Bay in this season’s playoff picture when they square off against one of the most complete teams in the league.
