Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback Baker Mayfield throws the ball into the stands after his 11-yard rushing touchdown during the second half of an NFL football game against the Detroit Lions, on Sept. 15 in Detroit.Paul Sancya/The Associated Press
Baker Mayfield took one step back, planted his left foot and took off for a zig-zagging, 11-yard touchdown run that gave Tampa Bay the lead for good in a playoff rematch.
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, and the Buccaneers beat the Lions 20-16 on Sunday in a playoff rematch.
“I wasn’t expecting to get to the end zone from that far out, but I made a couple guys miss,” Mayfield said after the longest touchdown run of his career.
Tampa Bay (2-0) fell behind only once in the closely contested game, and it stopped Detroit (1-1) when it had two chances to drive for a go-ahead touchdown in the final minutes.
The Lions turned it over on downs at the Bucs 6 with 53 seconds left and again at their 26 with two seconds left.
Lions coach Dan Campbell lamented a mistake he made in the first half, causing confusion for his offence and special teams that had both units on the field. That drew a flag that ran off the clock and took away an opportunity to kick a short field goal and pull within four points.
“I asked this team to improve and they improved, but the coach cost them the game,” Campbell said. “It is a massive error on my part. I messed up.”
If Detroit made that field goal, it potentially would’ve been a kick away from winning the game in the fourth quarter.
“It was fortunate for us,” Bucs coach Todd Bowles acknowledged.
Detroit QB Jared Goff threw two interceptions and got a break when defenders dropped two other passes that could have been picked off.
Goff finished 34 of 55 for 307 yards, and the offence he leads was 1 of 7 in the red zone.
“That’s ultimately the difference in the game,” he said. “If we score a couple touchdowns down there, we probably win the game.
“I think that’s a good team and we fought hard, but we made too many mistakes.”
Mayfield, meanwhile, was efficient through the air by completing 12 of 19 passes for 185 yards, including a tiebreaking 41-yard touchdown pass to Chris Godwin in the second quarter, with an interception. He also ran four times for 35 yards. Godwin had seven catches for 117 yards.
Detroit beat the Bucs 31-23 in the divisional round in January at home after a 20-6 win last October on the road, but couldn’t overcome its miscues and missed opportunities at Ford Field.
“It’s so big for everybody on this team to stick together and get a different outcome than the last time we were here,” Mayfield said.
The Lions were relegated to field goals until David Montgomery ran for a go-ahead, one-yard touchdown late in the third quarter.
Detroit’s Aidan Hutchinson had three sacks in the first quarter and finished with a career-high five sacks.
Amon-Ra St. Brown had 11 receptions for 119 yards for the Lions.