CJ Gardner-Johnson's shot at Baker Mayfield could come back to haunt the Lions

As the Detroit Lions prepared to face off against the Los Angeles Rams, C.J. Gardner-Johnson praised the LA receiving corps. What he didn't realize was that in doing so he also insulted Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback Baker Mayfield.

Of course, Detroit faces off against Tampa Bay this weekend at Ford Field in the Divisional Round of the playoffs. Uh oh, indeed.

“This group probably is one of the better groups we done faced all year, besides that Tampa group,” Gardner-Johnson said, per the Detroit Free-Press. “If you give that Tampa group a good quarterback, that’s a great group. Evans, Godwin, (Russell) Gage, that’s a great group. I played against them for real.”

While CJGJ did compliment the Buccaneers receiving corps, he also insisted that Mayfield is not a good quarterback. Baker isn't in the elite status of, say, Patrick Mahomes. However, he's played very well this year. In fact, there isn't a significant gap between Mayfield and Jared Goff statistically in 2023-24.

C.J. Gardner-Johnson, Lions may come to regret Baker Mayfield bulletin-board material

Mayfield and the Buccaneers made light work of the struggling Eagles in the NFC Wild Card round. The Lions are a far tougher test, and Tampa must head on the road. Ford Field was rocking against the Rams and Mayfield should expect much of the same next weekend.

Dan Campbell acknowledged that the Lions would have to play much better pass defense this time around against Tampa Bay if they are to emerge victorious and advance to the NFC Championship.

“We made some adjustments second half (against the Rams) that helped us in that area, but I just go back to this: We have to play a certain way,” Campbell said. “And ultimately, the answer to all this is we have to play as a team. It takes three phases. That’s ultimately the answer to all of it. So, you ask about defense, it takes three phases, and the other two got to step up. And just like when the offense, we weren’t able to put up the points in the second half, the defense kept them out of the end zone. So, we just find ways in all three phases. We got to continue to find an advantage over the opponent and go from there.”

Either way, you can expect Mayfield to play with a little extra edge on Sunday.