Takeaways from Lions-Bucs playoff game: Goff, Campbell among NFL's best

The No. 3 seed Detroit Lions held off the scrappy No. 4 seed Tampa Bay Buccaneers, earning a 31-23 win in the NFC divisional round and advancing to their first NFC Championship game since 1991.

Here are three takeaways from the Lions’ memorable win:

1. Jared Goff is a legitimate top-10 quarterback

Goff often flies under the radar because of the perception he was just a throw-in from the Los Angeles Rams in the Matthew Stafford trade three years ago, but it’s tough to argue against what he’s accomplished over the last two seasons. 

Since 2022, Goff has the second-most passing yards (9,013), the third-most touchdowns (59) and third-lowest interception percentage (1.6), the fourth-most wins (21) and the fifth-best passer rating (98.6).

In Sunday’s win, the Bucs kept things close until the fourth quarter when Goff led Detroit on a five-play, 75-yard touchdown drive and followed it with a 10-play, 89-yard touchdown drive to give the Lions a comfortable two-score cushion in the final quarter. 

He was a combined 9-for-9 on those drives, throwing for 120 yards and a touchdown. 

Few would debate Patrick Mahomes, Josh Allen, Joe Burrow, Justin Herbert and Lamar Jackson are, in some order, the top five QBs in the NFL currently, but after that, it’s tough to make a case for Goff not being No. 6.

2. Dan Campbell should be the Coach of the Year front-runner

Campbell entered the postseason with the fourth-best odds of winning Coach of the Year (+1900), per FanDuel, but what he’s done the last two weeks should vault him directly to the top. 

Hosting the first playoff game at Ford Field and the first playoff game in Detroit since 1993, the Lions held off Stafford and a game Rams team and they followed it up by booking their first trip to the NFC Championship game in over three decades. 

In three years, Campbell took the Lions from a 3-13-1 team to one that matched the franchise record for single-season wins (12), won its fourth division title (and first in 30 years) and will play in its second NFC Championship game next week. 

This postseason alone Campbell tied George Wilson for the second-most playoff wins (two) in franchise history.

3. The Bucs belonged in the postseason

Some questioned whether Tampa Bay was even a playoff-caliber team after it squeaked out a 9-0 win over the Carolina Panthers in Week 18 just to get into the postseason. 

Many expected the 9-8 Bucs to be one-and-done after drawing the 11-6 Philadelphia Eagles during Super Wild Card Weekend, but they routed the defending NFC champions, and they put up one heck of a fight against the Lions on Sunday.

The Bucs went score-for-score with Detroit all the way up until the fourth quarter before touchdowns from Jahmyr Gibbs and Amon-Ra St. Brown gave the Lions a two-score lead. But Tampa Bay fought back and closed the gap to a touchdown before a Baker Mayfield interception on the Bucs’ final drive sealed their fate. 

Tampa Bay held its own against a team that ranked third in total yards and fifth in scoring during the regular season.