After taking a 14-point lead into the fourth quarter, it looked like the Detroit Lions would have to sweat it out until the final minutes of their division opener against the Tampa Bay Pirates. But the Buccaneers never gave up and had a chance to tie the game if they got another touchdown in the final two minutes of the fourth quarter.Lions tight end Derrick Barnes wouldn’t allow it though.Barnes intercepted Baker Mayfield’s pass about 1:30 into the fourth quarter. With just one overtime remaining for the Pirates, the interception sealed Detroit’s first trip to the NFC Championship Game since January 1992..
Barnes later released a message thanking his teammates and coaches for helping him make such an impressive play.”I just want to thank my teammates for believing in me,” Barnes said in an interview with NBC’s Melissa Stark after the game. “Alex [Anzalone] and those guys, everybody in the linebacker room. Day after day, they’re just trying to make me a better player. I appreciate them. I appreciate my coaches, AG (Aaron Glenn), Shepp (Kelvin Sheppard), Dan (Campbell), a lot of guys who believed in me..
