DETROIT — If an NFL playoff game ever lived up to its billing, it was the Detroit Lions’ 24-23 win over the Los Angeles Rams in the wildcard matchup Sunday night at Ford Field.
It was Detroit’s first playoff win since Jan. 5, 1992, and because the Packers beat the Cowboys in the early game, the Lions will be back at Ford Field at 3 p.m. next Sunday. They’ll play Monday’s winner between the Bucs and Eagles.
While quarterbacks Matthew Stafford and Jared Goff were Sunday’s most obvious storyline, Goff and the Lions knew they couldn’t get caught up in that and they did not.
The Ford Field fans, who had adored Stafford for a dozen years when he was in Detroit, were all in Goff’s camp. They chanted his name loud and often. He’d never experienced anything like it, but it was certainly well deserved.
“It was kind of tracking for this matchup for a while so I had time to get ready for the fanfare that would be. I just kept going back to what this game was about and it was about us,’’ Goff said.
“It wasn’t about them. It wasn’t about me, it wasn’t about my history there, it wasn’t about anyone on their team or any coaches. It was about us. It was about the 53 in this locker room, our coaches and this organization getting a playoff win.’’
It wasn’t perfect but in the NFL a win by one point is worth as much as a 20-point victory.
Five of the reasons the Lions won:
1. The Lions’ defense held the Rams to 0-for-3 in the Red Zone. It was the key to the close game. “We wanted to be disruptive, we wanted to be aggressive,’’ coach Dan Campbell said. “It wasn’t perfect but at the end of the day we knew we had to limit points, keep them out of the end zone. We did that. We talked about it at halftime, we needed to stop.’’ And they did. Stafford was his usual amazing self (25 of 36, 367 yards) but was held to just two touchdowns. The Rams’ last three scores were all field goals.
2. Goff had complete control of the game and played nearly flawlessly. He completed 22 of 27 passes for 277 yards and a touchdown. “I thought he played top-notch football. He probably had two errors and everything else was on point,’’ Campbell said. “He looked loose, he looked relaxed. I thought he threw the ball with conviction, strong in the pocket. Got us in the right play, he felt that way all week, he felt locked in all week. He’s been that week for six weeks, we feel he’s really honed in.’’ The coach also said he’s one of the reasons they won the game. “What a stud,’’ he added.
3. Aidan Hutchinson woke up with a cold on Saturday but you’d never know he was a bit under the weather during the game. He finished with a pair of sacks and five quarterback hits. If you’re counting, that’s seven sacks in the last three games. He said he heats up at the end of the season. Good timing. He said they’d worked to improve on red zone defense which came down to a mentality shift. “Now we’ve just got to stop the self-inflicted wounds because they kill you in these big games,’’ Hutchinson said
4. With two minutes left, on a second-and-9 play, Goff passed to Amon-Ra St. Brown for the first down. It was a play they’ve run regularly throughout the past few years. No surprise it worked. At first Goff said he was excited to get the first down. It took a second for him to realize that one play ensured the win. “That was the moment where we needed to seal this game and we felt like the right thing to do was get it in (Goff’s) hands and get it to our best player,’’ Campbell said.
5. The fans did their job from before kickoff through the very end – and then they stuck around a bit afterward. They were outfitted with bracelets that flashed with the music, and they were ready to be loud. And they were. “That is arguably the best environment I’ve ever been in. That was absolutely electric,’’ Campbell said. “What’s crazy, I was coming down for pregame warmup, and you could just feel it, it was humming, the building was humming and I swear you could feel the electricity down the tunnel where I was coming down and it only grew from there. Our fans showed up in a big way. For two years that building has been rocking, it was different today, it was a whole nother level.’’
NEXT UP: At 3 p.m. on Sunday, Jan. 21, the Lions will host the winner of Monday’s Eagle-Bucs matchup. They earned another home game when the Packers destroyed the Cowboys, 48-32, at Dallas.
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