It’s not as if the Tampa Bay Buccaneers needed another test to demonstrate they among the best teams in the NFL – in fact, they’re No. 1 in the league’s latest Power Rankings. But like it or not, they have one coming Monday Night and it may well be the toughest yet.

The 5-1 Bucs bring the NFC’s best record to Detroit’s Ford Field for a clash with the Power Ranking’s No. 2 team – the 4-2 Lions with their high-powered, multi-faceted offense and ninth-ranked defense.

The 7 p.m. matchup – the first game in an MNF double-header – comes on the heels of consecutive impressive victories against two of the NFL’s best: 31-25 two weeks ago in Seattle against the 4-2 Seahawks (third in the Power Rankings) and 30-19 last Sunday at home against the 4-2 San Francisco 49ers. The Lions, meanwhile, are coming off a 30-17 loss to the Kansas City Chiefs and are eager to get back on the winning track.

This marks the fourth meeting of the two teams in the last three years – with the Bucs winning a regular-season game at Detroit 20-16 last season while falling to the Lions 31-23 in the 2024 NFC Divisional Playoffs and 20-6 in Tampa in 2023.

“It’s another opportunity each week, but obviously, with it being Detroit and how they have been in recent years, at the top of the NFC, it’s a great matchup,” said Bucs quarterback Baker Mayfield, who has led the offensive charge with a series of late-game heroics. “When it comes to their mentality and how they play, you have to match that intensity and try and set the precedent early on. I think our guys are up to that challenge. I think that is what we are trying to embody as well, so it is just another good opportunity.”

As usual, they may once again be facing a formidable obstacle with a number of injuries – among those who did not participate in Friday’s practice were rookie wide receiver Emeka Egbuka (questionable with a hamstring), veteran wideout Chris Godwin (fibula/out), and tailback Bucky Irvin (foot and shoulder/out). All-Pro wide receiver Mike Evans didn’t practice, either, but did take part Thursday in limited fashion, and is listed as questionable for a return to action Monday after being sidelined by a hamstring injury for a month.

Also on the “did not participate” list: offensive guard Luke Haggard (shoulder/out), running back Josh Williams (concussion/out) and linebacker Lavonte David (knee/rib/questionable). But the Bucs have displayed an ability to power through ongoing injuries this season and that remains the challenge this week.

They’ll take on a Lions team that ranks second in the league in scoring (compared to sixth for Tampa Bay) and is 11th overall offensively averaging 353.7 yards per game. The player fueling that performance is quarterback Jared Goff, who has already thrown 14 touchdown passes against just two interceptions for 1,390 yards. His favorite target is wide receiver Amad-Ra St. Brown (44 catches for 452 yards and six touchdowns), though tight end Sam LaPorta is also frequently in the mix (26 catches for 324 yards and two scores).

Detroit’s rushing tandem of Jahmyr Gibbs and David Montgomery poses an equally big threat, giving the Lions the league’s eighth-ranked rushing offense (128.7 yards per outing).

Bucs head coach Todd Bowles knows one of the best ways to counter Detroit’s dangerous offense is by pressuring Goff and attempting to force him off his game.

“It’s important to get to him and try to keep him off balance, but I think he throws well once he gets off his spot as well,” he said. “It’s going to be very important for us to plaster receivers and make sure his first and second reads are taken care of. He’s a great quarterback – he’s having a hell of a year. It’s going to be tough sledding, but everybody’s got to be on their P’s and Q’s back there.”

Bowles has been particularly impressed with St. Brown, who is coming off three straight seasons with more than 1,100 yards receiving and 28 touchdowns in that span.

“Not only is he a great receiver, he’s a great blocker as well,” Bowles said. “Not many of them can catch it, run routes inside and out, and block and compete at every level. He hardly ever comes out for a breather – he’s in there 99 percent of the time. He’s a hell of a problem for everybody (and) nobody’s solved it yet. We’ve just got to try to limit it and tackle him when he does catch it and try not to give up the big play.”

Defensively, the Lions rely heavily on edge-rusher Aiden Hutchinson, who has already amassed six sacks this season and has 33 in his four pro seasons. “He’s a huge concern,” Bowles said. “Last year he had five (sacks) on us, so he’s still playing the same way. He came back from his injury great. He’s got a great motor off the ball. He has a very good intelligence – that’s underrated – of the game and the players that he goes against. He’s going to be a handful.”

“(Hutchison is a) great ball player,” added Mayfield. “The guy, obviously, talented as all get out, but just zero quit. (He) continues to play through the echo of the whistle. He kind of embodies everything that (head coach) Dan Campbell wants that team to be about."

Mayfield has been stellar this season, too, posting a quarterback rating of 108.5 with 12 touchdowns, only one interception and 1,539 passing yards. But his scrambling for key first downs, escaping heavy pressure, has also been a major key for the Bucs this season. With his starting receivers sidelined, he’s still found success with backups with veteran Sterling Shepard, second-year wideout Kameron Johnson and rookie Tez Johnson – the latter two contributing key touchdown receptions last week.

“For those two guys to step up and play the way they did with everybody going down, it just showed the professionalism and the preparation that they paid attention to without getting all the reps,” Bowles said. “It was outstanding.”

Bucs Offensive coordinator Josh Grizzard gives Mayfield ample credit for preparing the younger receivers for the success they’ve been enjoying filling in for the starters.

“It’s constant communication,” Grizzard said. “In the meeting room when we’re all there together and we’re installing the plays – if it’s, ‘Here’s the pass drawing, here’s the example of the route,’ he’ll speak up right then. ‘This is how I’m seeing this; this is where I want you to be.’ Let’s say it looks a little bit different in practice or a walkthrough – he walks up to them right then, ‘Hey, I need you right here, not right there.’ They hear that, and then in the game, they have the confidence to go out there and execute it. So right when he sees it, we don’t wait – it’s right there: this is how we correct it. And then those guys are good from there on, in terms of making the correction and executing it on game day.”

Grizzard expects a genuine battle with Detroit’s defense, well beyond Hutchison.

“They’re all on the same page – you don’t see these guys cutting people loose,” he said. “They know where they need to be, when they need to be there. Then, the culture that Coach Cambell sets – the way these guys play hard, they run to the ball, they’re very physical – they just play well together. It’s a big challenge.”