SANTA CLARA, Calif. – The Cinderella story for the Detroit Lions has been extended another week after they took down the Tamp Bay Buccaneers in the NFC Divisional round inside Ford Field.
Awaiting them in the NFC Championship is the vaunted San Francisco 49ers, against whom the Lions don’t have the best of record.
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The game will be played inside Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, California, on Sunday (Jan. 28) at 6:30 p.m., with the winner advancing to Super Bowl LVIII.
Both teams come into the matchup ranking top two in touchdowns, yards per game, and red zone efficiency in the NFC, but Detroit has not won on the road against the 49ers in their last 13 attempts dating back to 1975.
To make Sunday even more daunting, the Lions are currently on an 11-game road playoff losing streak, the longest in NFL history.
The last time the Lions beat the 49ers in the playoffs was when they won their most recent championship in 1957.
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The 49ers have a plethora of weapons, like running back Christian McCaffrey, tight end George Kittle, defensive lineman Arik Armstead, Nick Bosa, Chase Young, linebacker Fred Warner, quarterback Brock Purdy, wide receivers Deebo Samuel, Brandon Aiyuk, and left tackle Trent Williams to name a few.
Although Detroit does not have the caliber of players that San Francisco has, they’re no slouch themselves with quarterback Jared Goff, running backs Jahmyr Gibbs and David Montgomery, tight end Sam LaPorta, right tackle Penei Sewell, offensive tackle Taylor Decker, wide receivers Amon-Ra St. Brown and Jameson Williams, and former Michigan Wolverines superstar Aidan Hutchinson to name a few.
Over these past couple of years, although 49ers coach Kyle Shanahan has accomplished some remarkable feats like making it to the Super Bowl and falling short to Patrick Mahomes and his Kansas City Chiefs or falling short in the championship game to Matthew Stafford and the Los Angeles Rams or falling short to Jalen Hurts and his Philadelphia Eagles.
At the same time, the Lions have made strides, including hiring head coach Dan Campbell, who has brought the struggling franchise back from misery by winning 22 of his last 29 games.
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Some of those victories were statement wins, like ending the Green Bay Packers career of Aaron Rodgers inside Lambeau Field.
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The team in Honolulu Blue then opened the season by spoiling the Chiefs ring celebration inside Aarowhead Stadium.
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The Lions then, despite a late game surge by Jordan Love and the Packers, went back into Lambeau Field and dismantled the cheeseheads on Thursday Night Football during a short week.
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For the second time since 1957 and for the first time since 1991, the Lions won a playoff game after toppling Stafford and his Rams in the NFL Wildcard Round.
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Thanks to an unlikely hero, they took down Baker Mayfield and his Buccaneers in the NFL Divisional Round to advance to the NFC Championship for the first time since 1992.
In 1992, when the Lions made their last trip to the NFC Championship game, iPods did not exist. There was no such thing as a text message.
Amazon, Facebook, Google, and Myspace did not exist yet. Playstation and Xbox weren’t a thing, and Blackberry phones were just a thought.
If that doesn’t make you feel old, most of the Lions skilled players like Goff, St. Brown, Gibbs, LaPorta, and Hutchinson hadn’t been born yet.
The Lions are the only team remaining in the final four not to win a Super Bowl in their franchise’s history, and they are the only team remaining to have not even played in the game of games.
But the Lions have the right pieces to do the unthinkable Sunday night.
Hutchinson has 12 quarterback pressures this postseason, four more than the next pass rusher. The second-year starter has 10 pass rush wins, four more than the next man on the list. He also leads the postseason in sacks with three, one more than the next man on the list.
When the Green Bay Packers took on the 49ers, they ran the ball down their throats, especially Aaron Jones, who toted the rock 18 times for 108 yards.
Give Montgomery and Gibbs those same opportunities and see how they chew up grass like Pac-Man chews up pellets. With the run game popping off, look for Goff to dime up his receiving targets with the play-action passing attack.
Detroit has been shattering records lately, so it’s time for them to go into Levi’s Stadium and snap another streak while extending their winning streak to three and advance to their first Super Bowl in franchise history.
If you’re superstitious, the Lions announced that they will wear their all-white uniforms in the championship game. The color combination remains undefeated, as Detroit is 4-0 when they wear that combo in 2023.