Pivotal game Week 11 at Detroit.

When the plastic pellets of the turf at Ford Field settle down following the Bucs-Lions game in Detroit in Week 11, fans should have a pretty good idea where the Bucs stand with the big boys of the NFC.

For Dan Pompei of The Athletic, this game will be a gauge, as it often is. It seems like each year these two teams, coached by two close friends, lock horns. The winner often has a strong season.

The loser? Not so much.

The Lions have been a measuring stick for the Bucs in recent years and could be again this season. They meet Nov. 22 in Detroit, and the schedule-makers did the Bucs a favor because the Bucs are coming off a bye while the Lions are coming off a game in Munich against the Patriots. The Bucs have lost three of four to the Lions in the last three seasons, including a divisional playoff game in 2024 but have attempted to tilt the rivalry by signing former Lions Alex Anzalone, Al-Quadin Muhammad and A’Shawn Robinson. The game begins the stretch of the season that will define the 2026 Buccaneers.

Evidence of how the outcome of a Bucs-Lions game tips the future? The best Bucs team since Bucco Bruce Arians retired came in 2024, when the Bucs traveled to Detroit and survived with a win in probably the most physical game the Bucs played all season.

While the Bucs were upset in the wild card round against Washington, the Bucs did win 10 games, the most since they won 13 in 2021, Arians’ last season.

The tricky part for Joe is Todd Bowles being 1-3 in his four years in games following a bye week. In 2024, the Bucs hammered the lowly Giants in MetLife Stadium 30-6 after enjoying a bye week. Post-bye losses came to the Browns (2022), Lions (2023) and Patriots (2025).