GOOD NEWS: it has been done…
Lions defeat Rams in avengeful fashion led by Jared Goff
The , led by quarterback Jared Goff, defeated the Los Angeles Rams 24-23 at Ford Field to win their first home postseason game since 1991.
In his return to Detroit, former Lions quarterback Matthew Stafford (now with the Rams) suffered a setback in Sunday’s wild-card round victory. The first half saw both sides come out fire, with the Lions leading 21–17 at the break.
The winner of the “Monday Night Football” game between the Philadelphia Eagles and Tampa Bay Buccaneers (8:15 p.m. ET, ABC/ESPN/ESPN+) will face the Lions in the divisional round of the playoffs, where they are seeded third.
The Lions hosted a home playoff game in Detroit for the first time in thirty years, and the sold-out crowd was electrifying. The NFL’s longest current postseason victory drought came to an end when the Lions defeated the Rams, with a large number of former players and celebrities supporting them. Since their divisional round victory over the Dallas Cowboys in 1991, they have not won a postseason game.
Positive trend: the defense end Aidan Hutchinson kept up his excellent performance. With two sacks and four quarterback hits in the final two games of the regular season, Hutchinson put a lot of pressure on Stafford.
Largest gap in the strategy: Stafford exploited the secondary defense in the first half. Regular-season play saw the Lions permit
During the week preceding the encounter, Stafford expressed several times that although he was thrilled to be back at Ford Field, his main excitement stemmed from the Rams’ playoff debut, since many people outside the stadium doubted their chances of qualifying for the postseason.
The Rams quarterback’s fairytale return to Detroit, where he played in his first game at Ford Field after being traded to them, did not end well as Stafford failed to pass a touchdown in the second half.
The 2023 NFL playoffs divisional round schedule has a ton of exciting matches, and we’ve got all the information you need. Every game’s most important details are provided by our NFL Nation writers, along with a daring prediction for every encounter.
Every game also comes with a betting nugget and a major stat to know from ESPN Stats & Information, and our Football Power Index (FPI) goes beyond the data to estimate the outcome of the game. Seth Walder, an analytics writer, identifies the largest X factor for each matchup, Matt Bowen highlights a crucial game-planning matchup to monitor in every game, and Kevin Seifert provides us with officiating information. Lastly, we get the final score predictions for each game from Walder and Eric Moody. Everything that you
The Lions, who just won their first postseason game in thirty-two years, will host their first NFC divisional round since the 1991 playoffs. This season’s meeting between these two clubs will take place for the second time after Detroit prevailed 20–6 at Tampa Bay in the regular season. Former No. 1 overall picks Baker Mayfield of the Buccaneers and Jared Goff of the Lions have both rejuvenated their careers in new environments and will try to lead their respective teams with their impressive play. — Eric Woodyard
Bold prediction: The Bucs will win by keeping the Lions under 20 points. The backdrop in Detroit will be as hostile as it gets, Tampa Bay will once again be the underdog, and coach Todd Bowles hasn’t defeated Goff since 2019, when Goff was
The NFL’s most frugal refereeing staff is often that of Bill Vinovich during regular season play. However, in 2023, it tied for the sixth fewest flags per game with an average of 13.4 in the NFL. Five flags apiece were shared by the Lions and Bucs during their regular season meeting. — Seifert
Nugget of wisdom: Both teams have an overall record of 12-6, which ties them for second place behind the Raiders (12-5 ATS). For Buccaneers games, the unders are 12-6, while for Lions games, the overs are 11-7.
Picked by Moody’s: Lions 28, Buccaneers 21
Walder’s selection: Buccaneers 17, Lions 34
DET, 62.5 percent (average of 4.5 points) is the FPI forecast.
In this rivalry between Josh Allen and Patrick Mahomes, the Chiefs are visiting Orchard Park for the postseason for the first time. Six times have the quarterbacks faced off; the Chiefs have won both postseason games (2020 and 2021) and the Bills have won three of the four regular-season matchups. The defensive performance makes a difference for the Bills in both regular season and postseason games. While the Bills limited the Chiefs to 20.8 points per game and nine turnovers during the regular season, Kansas City averaged 40 points and committed just one turnover in the postseason. The Bills defense, which is battling with a number of ailments, will have a difficult test soon. — Getzenberg Alaina
One of the NFL’s more active referees is Shawn Hochuli. He called an NFL-high 14 flags for roughing the passer during the regular season, five more than the next closest referee. With 61 of these flags since turning pro in 2018, he has topped the league. Given that Allen has become skilled at earning roughing-the-passer fouls, it may turn out to be fascinating. In 2023, he drew six, the most in the whole league. Mahomes only had one draw. — Seifert
Nugget of wisdom: In his postseason experience, Mahomes is 10-5 ATS, including 7-2 ATS when he isn’t a seven-point favorite. Allen’s postseason record is 3-6 ATS.
What to look out for: The conclusion of a difficult postseason run. Lamar Jackson, the quarterback for the Ravens, is 0-2 with three interceptions and one touchdown pass in the divisional round. However, the Texans have lost by an average of 14.5 points and are 0–4 in the divisional round. — Hensley Jamison
Prediction bold: C.J. Stroud of the Texans will pass for more than 300 yards, making history as the first quarterback to do so against the Ravens since Tom Brady on October 27, 2022, when he passed for 325 yards. In the wild-card game against the Browns’ top-ranked defense, Stroud led the league in passing yards per game (273), and after throwing for 236 yards in the first half, he had a chance to throw for well over 300 yards. — Bien-Aime DJ
