- The game was close throughout, but the Lions never followed the Buccaneers at home
- Detroit will face No. 1 seed San Francisco next with the Super Bowl on the line
- DailyMail.com provides all the latest international sports news
Before this season, the Detroit Lions had not won a playoff game since early January 1992. Now they’ve won two in the last seven days.
The Detroit Lions defeated the Tampa Bay Buccaneers 31-23 in the Divisional Round on Sunday to advance to the NFC Championship.
Detroit did not have a single game in the same postseason in the Super Bowl era, the last time being in 1957.
The Lions will hit the road for the first time this postseason with a trip to the Super Bowl on the line against the San Francisco 49ers. The game starts at 6:30 Eastern.
Detroit never trailed in the game, with its two touchdowns early in the fourth quarter putting the game to rest.
The Detroit Lions are heading to the NFC Championship game for the first time since 1992
Dan Campbell has led an incredible turnaround in Detroit in his third season at the helm
The Buccaneers tied the game at 3, 10 and 17, but couldn’t get the defensive stops needed to upset Ford Field.
With less than two minutes remaining, Tampa Bay had the ball at 8, but quarterback Baker Mayfield threw the game-deciding interception.
The Lions being one of the last four teams standing further solidifies the team’s turnaround under head coach Dan Campbell.
After just three wins in 2021, Detroit improved to 9-8 last season. Now, including the playoffs, the Lions won their 14th game of the season.
Detroit is definitely enjoying its first playoff success in more than three decades
Lions quarterback Jared Goff was exceptional again, throwing for 287 yards and two touchdowns.
‘They are the best. Now look around you,” Goff said of the home crowd after the game. ‘They won’t be leaving here anytime soon. This is our last for them. They were special tonight, just like last week.”
‘They deserve it. They deserve this. They deserve to enjoy this and hopefully we give them much more,” Goff added.
In retrospect, the Lions’ upset against the Chiefs at Arrowhead Stadium on the opening night of the season wasn’t so shocking after all.
The last time Detroit played in a conference championship game, it lost 41-10 to the then-Washington Redskins.