The Detroit Lions' trip to Raymond James Stadium will be something like a family reunion, albeit an uncomfortable one after several years of lost contact.
The Lions and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers were members of the NFC Central family for 25 years, from 1997-2001. The NFL realigned in 2002 and the five-team Central became the four-team North, with only the Buccaneers to start over in the more geographically accurate NFC South. Despite that split, the Buccaneers and Lions still saw each other frequently in the years that followed. In fact, in the decade from 2005-14, the two teams met seven times, with the Lions holding a narrow 4-3 edge in that span.