Bad news for the Lions as Buccaneers head coach Todd Bowles believes his team is getting better.
Tampa Bay travel to Detroit for their next playoff game, fresh off shellacking the Eagles 32-9.
The Lions beat the Bucs 20-6 earlier in the season, but Bowles is bullish about their chances this weekend.
“We were where we were at that time of the year,” Bowles told Rick Stroud of the Tampa Bay Times.
“I don’t wish we would’ve done anything different or we wouldn’t have learned from it. They’re a very good team. They’re coached very well. Very fast, very physical. An electric crowd is going to be up there.
“Wish we hadn’t done anything different, but we’ve got to learn from it. Any of our losses, for that matter. We’re a different team now. We’re mentally tougher. I think we’ve gotten stronger from it, and we learned some things. We’re still piecing it together, but we’re happy where we’re at.”
The Buccaneers were smoked by Detroit months back on a strong performance by quarterback Jared Goff, who threw for 353 yards and two touchdowns.
The Lions narrowly pipped the Rams 24-23 in the wildcard round and will be slightly favorites with home field advantage.
