The Super Bowl is just two wins away for the remaining teams in the NFL. At the weekend, the Detroit Lions and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, among others, will decide on a “semifinalist.” In the run-up to the game, verbal poison arrows were already flying back and forth between two protagonists.
According to the Detroit Free Press, the skirmish was kicked off by Lions safety CJ Gardner-Johnson, who, when asked about the Bucs’ receiving corps, replied: “This group is probably one of the better groups we’ve faced all year had to do.”
“If you give the Tampa group a good quarterback, it’s a great group. [Mike] Evans, [Chris] Godwin, [Russell] “Gage, this is a great group,” the defensive man shot more or less directly against Baker Mayfield.
It goes without saying that the Buccaneers quarterback was also confronted with his opponent’s statements. Mayfield responded calmly and well prepared: “I don’t think he actually watched the movie because he mentioned Russell Gage,” Mayfield explained. “We love Russell, but Russell hasn’t played a single snap for us all year,” the playmaker added.
This means he has the laughs on his side and has put his opponent in his place, at least verbally for the time being. “Jokes on you,” you could say.
Bucs vs. Lions: Who will win the sporting comparison?
The verbal duel must therefore be considered in favor of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. However, this will be forgotten by the start of the duel on Sunday (9 p.m. live on RTL) and everything will revolve purely around sport.
And here you can probably attribute the role of favorite to the Detroit Lions, who are playing very refreshing offensive football this season and can always score points defensively.
It’s quite possible that the Buccaneers will have to go through a shootout against the Lions’ offensive power around Amon-Ra St. Brown. And then it will really depend on the Bucs’ receiving group, which, according to Gardner-Johnson, should be just as motivated as Baker Mayfield.