Marquee matchup between Buccaneers, Lions could be without key players on both sides

Tampa Bay finally won a game without making its fans hold their breath until the last snap. The Buccaneers haven’t blown anyone out, but they enter their Week 7 matchup Monday night at Detroit with the NFC’s best record.

“If the season was seven games, I’d be extremely happy. But it’s 17 games,” Bucs coach Todd Bowles said. “We have a long way to go.”

If the season were six games, Baker Mayfield might be holding an MVP trophy. Despite key injuries at the skill positions, Mayfield has tossed 12 touchdown passes and only one interception while leading his club to a 5-1 record.

He’ll be throwing against Detroit’s depleted secondary, which suffered another key loss when safety Brian Branch was handed a one-game league suspension. A frustrated Branch whacked Kansas City receiver JuJu Smith-Schuster in the head during a postgame altercation Sunday night. Three other key defensive backs — D.J. Reed, Kerby Joseph and Terrion Arnold — are either on injured reserve or missed Thursday’s practice due to injury.

“It’s another opportunity each week, but, obviously, with it being Detroit and how they’ve been in recent years — atop of the NFC — it’s a great matchup,” Mayfield said. “When it comes to their mentality and how they play, you have to match that intensity and try to set the precedent early on. I think our guys are up to that challenge. That’s what we’re trying to embody as well.”

Mayfield won’t have all of his prime targets again. Top rookie Emeka Egbuka has a hamstring strain, and Chris Godwin is dealing with a fibula injury that kept him out of last week’s 30-19 win over San Francisco. Top running back Bucky Irving hasn’t played since Sept. 28 because of shoulder and foot injuries.

That trio didn’t practice Thursday. However, there was a positive development as Mike Evans returned on a limited basis. The veteran wideout has missed the last three games with a hamstring issue.

“It’s a good safety blanket,” Mayfield said of Evans. “It’s nice to see him out there.”

Mayfield led the Bucs to a 20-16 win over the Lions early last season despite Detroit’s top pass rusher, Aidan Hutchinson, recording 4 1/2 sacks.

“He’s a huge concern,” Bowles said. “Last year, he had five on us, and he’s still playing the (same) way. He came back from his (season-ending leg) injury great. He’s got a great motor off the ball, and he’s got very good intelligence, so he’s going to be a handful.”

Tampa Bay recorded its first four wins by a total of nine points. The Lions (4-2) had their four-game winning streak snapped by the Chiefs, 30-17.

Detroit hasn’t lost back-to-back games since a five-game slide during the 2022 season.

“They’re a resilient group. They know how to overcome adversity,” Lions coach Dan Campbell said. “They don’t like losing, and they go back to work to fix the things that need to be fixed. We’ve got a couple of things to clean up, and we’re going to clean them up this week. So, it’s our players. Coaches do a hell of a job, too.”

The Lions averaged 40.3 points during their streak. Jared Goff is off to another strong start (14 TDs, 2 INTs, 75.9% completion rate). He has been sacked only nine times.

“I’ve always tried to keep the ball in my guys’ hands and avoid sacks,” Goff said. “Those two things, completion percentage and low sack numbers, is something I work on, and something we’ve done a good job with up to this point.”