One reporter covering the Tampa Bay Buccaneers’ 2024 playoff run clearly hasn’t done her research.
The Buccaneers on Monday advanced to the Divisional Round after beating the Philadelphia Eagles 32-9 at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, Fla. With the win, the Buccaneers booked their tickets to travel north and face the Detroit Lions in a much colder climate.
A reporter brought up the looming drop in temperature during Buccaneers head coach Todd Bowles’s Tuesday press conference. She asked Bowles if the team had any “special plans to acclimate” to the weather in Detroit.
Bowles responded succinctly by informing the reporter that the Lions’ home stadium Ford Field has a dome.
“You do know we play indoors, right? [Ford Field] has got a dome,” responded a perplexed Bowles. “No, nothing planned. We’re indoors and we only have to be outside for 20 seconds getting off the bus, so we’ll be okay.
The weather was a major talking point during Wild Card Weekend. The Bills-Steelers game was postponed for a day due to a massive blizzard. The Chiefs-Dolphins game was so cold that the ticket prices at Arrowhead Stadium plummeted.
However, the Lions have played in a domed venue since 1975. The team previously played in the Pontiac Superdome before moving to Ford Field in 2002.
The Buccaneers surely have more pressing matters to worry about — such as protecting Baker Mayfield — than the chilly air inside the Lions’ indoor facility.