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Head coach Todd Bowles insisted throughout a Tuesday information convention that his Tampa Bay Buccaneers aren’t the identical group that misplaced 20-6 at house to the Detroit Lions in Week 6 again on Oct. 15.
“We’re a distinct group now,” Bowles defined forward of this coming Sunday’s divisional playoff sport at Detroit, per Rick Stroud of the Tampa Bay Instances. “We’re mentally harder. I believe we’ve gotten stronger from it, and we realized some issues. We’re nonetheless piecing it collectively, however we’re comfortable the place we’re at.”
The Buccaneers entered their Week 5 bye at 3-1 however then dropped 4 straight video games and 6 of seven to fall to 4-7. Simply when it appeared like each Bowles and quarterback Baker Mayfield might be searching for work elsewhere this offseason, Tampa Bay gained 5 of six contests to say the NFC South division title. The Bucs then surprised many within the NFL neighborhood after they thrashed the Philadelphia Eagles 32-9 in Monday’s wild-card playoff matchup at Raymond James Stadium.
Not like the Week 6 showdown, this coming Sunday’s sport between the Buccaneers and Lions will probably be held at Detroit’s Ford Subject. The Lions earned a hard-fought 24-23 house win over the Los Angeles Rams this previous Sunday evening.
“They’re an excellent group,” Bowles mentioned in regards to the Lions. “They’re coached very nicely. Very quick, very bodily. An electrical crowd goes to be up there.”
Bowles added in regards to the earlier Tampa Bay-Detroit conflict that “there aren’t any classes in dropping however dropping.” That will not have been the case for this previous Monday’s sport contemplating the Eagles defeated the Buccaneers 25-11 in Week 3.
Whereas Mayfield and the Buccaneers are “having enjoyable” and “taking part in free” in January, many however are predicting their playoff run will come to an finish this weekend. As of early Wednesday afternoon, DraftKings Sportsbook listed Tampa Bay as a 6.5-point highway underdog in opposition to Detroit.
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