Sunday night, Detroit Lions fans got what so many of them have been waiting for literally their entire lives: a playoff win.
In true Lions’ fashion, the game was a nailbiter, but the bend-don’t-break defense had a series of fourth quarter stops that helped ice the team’s first playoff win in 32 years, a 24-23 over the Matthew Stafford-led Los Angeles Rams.
For many of the players on both sides of the ball, it was an emotional contest for reasons outside of the normal playoff football atmosphere. The two quarterbacks were traded for one another three seasons ago, with each still maintaining close ties with their respective fan bases and former teammates.
Stafford spent 12 up-and-down years at the helm for the Lions, while Goff spent five years leading the Rams, including taking the team to the Super Bowl during the 2021 season.
The history between the two made for an interesting subplot to the main event. When Stafford took the field as a starting quarterback Sunday, it was his first time doing so because he was never able to lead the Lions to a home playoff game while in Detroit. He was booed profusely during warmups and at several points throughout the game.
Conversely, Goff received thunderous cheers from the 66,367 fans in attendance at Ford Field all throughout the game and even when he took the field during the pregame warmup. Fans chanted his name seemingly every time he made a timely play in the game – which he did several times on the historic night.
In the head-to-head matchup, both QBs orchestrated masterful play. Stafford finished with 25-of-36 for 367 yards and two touchdowns, while Goff completed 22-of-27 passes for 277 yards and one touchdown. Neither quarterback threw an interception or turned the ball over.
But Goff and the Lions stormed out the gates early, putting together one of their most complete first halves of football this season, and scoring on each of their first three possessions. The game started with a 75-yard march down the field, highlighted by Goff completing three passes to his former Los Angeles Rams teammate Josh Reynolds. The drive was capped off by a 1-yard David Montgomery touchdown run.
When it was time for Stafford to take the field, he did what Lions fans saw him do time and time again over the years by marching his team down the field to answer his opponents’ score. Although he wasn’t able to get his team into the endzone, Stafford led the Rams down to the Lions’ six yard line, but the defense pressured Stafford on back-to-back throws, and the drive resulted in a successful Rams field goal attempt to make it 7-3.
Goff made quick work to get the Lions on the board again, marching right back downfield the next drive. The key play on the drive was a 33-yard connection again to Reynolds, which set up a 10-yard Jahmyr Gibbs touchdown run to give the Lions at commanding 14-3 lead.
Stafford would find the endzone for the first time just three minutes later, connecting his sensational All-Pro rookie wide receiver Puka Nacua for a 50-yard score. Nacua used a double move on the sideline to beat Lions defensive back Cam Sutton for the score to make it 14-10.
Goff continued his masterful first half, this time using a methodical 11-play, 75-yard drive to put the Lions up 21-10 midway through the second quarter. This time, Goff hooked up with his rookie All-Pro tight end Sam LaPorta on a two-yard strike on fourth down.
Stafford remained resilient and answered again, this time on a six-play, 75-yard drive that ended in a 38-yard touchdown to Tutu Atwell.
The Lions had a chance to extend the lead even more on their final drive of the half, but a false start penalty on left tackle Taylor Decker on fourth-and-five pushed the Lions back five yards and they had to punt the ball away in their final first-half possession.
“I’m not gonna comment on the officiating,” Decker said after the game of the questionable false start call. “If [the defense] jumps offside we try to tag them, and they called what they called. It is what it is.”
Scoring slowed drastically for both teams in the second half, as the Lions’ only second-half score was a 54-yard Michael Badgley field goal in the third quarter. The Rams weren’t much better, only mustering two field goals over the final 30 minutes of action.
The Lions All-Pro wide receiver Amon-Ra St. Brown led the Lions receiving corps with seven catches for 110 yards, while Nacua had nine catches for 181 yards and a touchdown for the Rams, who won seven of their final eight games to make the playoffs for the first time since Stafford led them to a Super Bowl in 2021.
After the game, Stafford commented about the fans’ reception to him and what he thought the win meant for the city of Detroit, saying that he didn’t care about what anyone in the stands thought about him, and “I’m happy for the players. I’m happy for them.” He made it clear that he wasn’t concerned about the fans who spent 12 years cheering for him.
Goff, on the other hand, commented after the game how good it felt to have the fans chanting his name and being able to deliver a win for the fans who have been so desperately rooting for a Lions playoff win for decades on end.
C.J. Gardner-Johnson echoed those sentiments in a post-game interview at his locker. He said he was almost moved to tears when he saw fans in the stand crying with tears of joy.
“I was teary-eyed. I saw one of the ladies crying in the stands and you can imagine how long she’s been a fan. She’s probably never seen this before,” he said. “We been doin’ it for the fans. They can go home and go to sleep with a win tonight, probably drunk because it feels so good.”
Goff and Gardner-Johnson both said after the game that one feels nice, but the team isn’t finished. Goff said when he saw the score to the Dallas Cowboys-Green Bay Packers game, he knew that there would be a possibility for the Lions to host a second playoff game at Ford Field if the Cowboys were eliminated. They were, now the Lions will play in Detroit on Sunday, Jan. 21, at 3 p.m. ET on NBC. Their opponent will be decided when Tampa Bay plays Philadelphia. Detroit will host the winner for the next round of the playoffs.
The win meant so much for fans of Detroit, who haven’t seen playoff success in more than three decades, and haven’t been able to attend Lions playoff game since 1994 when the Lions last hosted a game at the Pontiac Silverdome. It was the first time since 1957 – the Lions last championship season – that the team hosted a playoff game in the city of Detroit.
Detroit resident and lifelong Lions fan Demarr Johnson said after the game that this has been a moment he’s waited for literally his whole life.
“Listen, man. I can’t even tell you how hype I am for me and for the city right now,” he said while yelling “Let’s Go Lions!” and “One Pride!” with other fans. “I’m 37 years old. I wasn’t even old enough to remember what that last game was like when we beat Dallas 30-something years ago. I’ve seen the team struggle my whole life. I thought we had something going with [previous Lions Head Coach Jim] Caldwell, but he didn’t get it done when he had Stafford. We got Goff, and Goff went off tonight to bring this city something we all been wanting – a playoff win. We’re definitely going to the Super Bowl this year, so I hope we win it, man. Detroit needs this one bad.”