Until this season, the Detroit Lions had not won a playoff game since early January 1992. They’ve now won twice in the past seven days.
The Detroit Lions defeated the Tampa Bay Buccaneers 31-23 on Sunday in the Divisional round, advancing to the NFC Championship.
Detroit did not play two games in the same playoffs throughout the Super Bowl era, last doing so in 1957.
The Lions will travel for the first time this playoffs to face the San Francisco 49ers, with a Super Bowl berth on the line. The game will begin at 6:30 Eastern.
Detroit never trailed in the game, and its two touchdowns to begin the fourth quarter put the game away.
The Buccaneers tied the game at three, ten, and seventeen, but they were unable to make the crucial defensive stops to pull off the upset at Ford Field.
With about two minutes remaining, Tampa Bay possessed the ball down eight, but quarterback Baker Mayfield threw the game-winning interception.
Jared Goff, the Lions quarterback, was once again spectacular, passing for 287 yards and two touchdowns.
‘They’re the best. ‘Look around right now,’ Goff said after the game to the home crowd. ‘They won’t be leaving here for a long time. This is our final one in front of them. They were as great tonight as they were last week.
‘They deserved it. They deserve it. They deserve to appreciate this, and maybe [we’ll] be giving them a lot more in the future,’ Goff said.
In retrospect, the Lions’ stunning victory over the Chiefs at Arrowhead Stadium on the season’s first night wasn’t so surprising.
Detroit’s previous conference championship game was a 41-10 loss to the Washington Redskins.
