Lions look to bounce back from loss as they host first-place Bucs on Monday night

By Canadian Press on October 16, 2025.

Tampa Bay (5-1) at Detroit (4-2)

Monday, 7 p.m. EDT, ESPN

BetMGM NFL Odds: Lions by 5 1/2.

Against the spread: Buccaneers 4-2; Lions 4-2.

Series record: Lions lead 33-30.

Last meeting: Buccaneers beat Lions 20-16 on Sept. 15, 2024, in Detroit.

Last week: Buccaneers beat 49ers 30-19; Lions lost to Chiefs 30-17.

Buccaneers offense: overall (11), rush (8), pass (14), scoring (2)

Buccaneers defense: overall (14), rush (5), pass (21), scoring (24)

Lions offense: overall (11), rush (8), pass (14), scoring (2)

Lions defense: overall (9), rush (11), pass (14), scoring (18)

Turnover differential: Buccaneers plus-4; Lions plus-6.

Buccaneers player to watch

WR Kameron Johnson. The second-year pro’s first career catch last week was a 34-yard TD and he finished with four receptions for 64 yards. If Mike Evans doesn’t return, the Bucs won’t have their top four receivers. Johnson has made an impact as a returner and now he’s poised to do it as a receiver.

Lions player to watch

DE Aidan Hutchinson. He has a sack in five straight games, setting a single-season franchise record. Hutchinson has a sack and a forced fumble in four consecutive games, making him the first to pull off the feat since Khalil Mack in 2018, to match the longest streak since at least 1999. He has six sacks, ranking fourth in the league.

Key matchup

Bucs QB Baker Mayfield against Detroit’s short-handed secondary. Mayfield is tied for third in the league with 12 TD passes and is sixth in passer rating. The Lions have a handful of defensive backs banged up and took another hit when S Brian Branch was suspended one game by the NFL for throwing a punch and triggering a fight after last week’s loss at Kansas City.

Key injuries

Buccaneers: Rookie WR Emeka Egbuka (hamstring) and RG Luke Haggard (shoulder) were injured last week. … WR Mike Evans (hamstring), RB Bucky Irving (foot, shoulder), WR Chris Godwin (fibula), RT Luke Goedeke (foot), CB Benjamin Morrison (hamstring) and CB Zyon McCollum (thumb) didn’t play in Week 6. DL Calijah Kancey (pec), TE Ko Kieft (leg) and G Cody Mauch (knee) are done for the season.

Lions: OT Taylor Decker (shoulder) practiced Thursday, moving closer to playing after missing two games. S Kerby Joseph missed 11 of 64 defensive snaps after aggravating a knee injury last week and CB Terrion Arnold (shoulder), who didn’t play at Kansas City, were held out of practice Thursday.

Series notes

The road team has won eight of the past nine matchups. Baker Mayfield had an 11-yard TD on a designed run one snap after converting a third down with another 11-yard run late in the third quarter of last season’s win. The Lions turned it over on downs at the Bucs 6 with 53 seconds left and again at their 26 with 2 seconds left in the loss. Lions QB Jared Goff threw two INTs against Tampa Bay last season when the Lions went 1 of 7 in the red zone. Detroit beat the Bucs 31-23 in the divisional round on Jan. 21, 2024, and advanced to the NFC championship game for the first time in 32 years.

Stats and stuff

NFC South-leading Tampa Bay has the best record in the conference and is tied with Indianapolis for the NFL’s best mark entering Week 7. … After the Bucs became the first team in NFL history with four wins by three or fewer points in their first five games of season, they beat San Francisco by 11 points. … Mayfield threw for 256 yards with two TDs and no INTs for a season-high 139 rating last week. … Egbuka, the No. 19 pick overall, leads the team with 27 catches, 469 yards receiving and five receiving TDs. … RB Rachaad White had season-high 86 yards from scrimmage and ran for his fourth TD last week. … The Lions have not lost two consecutive games in the regular season in nearly three years. In coach Dan Campbell’s second season, they dropped five in a row and fell to 1-6 on Oct. 30, 2022. Since then, Detroit is an NFL-best 39-11 followed by the teams — Kansas City (38-12) and Philadelphia (36-14) — that combined to win the past three Super Bowls. … Goff (10,594 yards passing and 81 TD passes) and Mayfield (10,083 yards passing and 81 TD passes) lead the league in yards passing and TD passes since 2023. … Goff has completed an NFL-high 75.9% of his passes and leads the league with 14 TD passes, ranking second in passer rating. … S Kerby Joseph has an INT in two straight home games. … If Hutchinson forces a fumble, he will join Robert Mathis (2005) as the two players this century to do that in five straight games in one season.

Fantasy tip

Goff is great at Ford Field. He has accounted for 50 TDs in his past 19 starts at home, throwing for 47 scores, rushing for two and catching one.

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The Associated Press