We witnessed history on Sunday night. The Detroit Lions won a home playoff game in Ford Field for the very first time, and just the franchise’s second postseason victory in the Super Bowl era, by beating the Los Angeles Rams, 24-23, in the wild card round.
It wasn’t an easy win, nor was it expected to be that way. It wouldn’t be Detroit if it was easy.
Here’s what stood out from watching the Lions beat the Rams in real time on Sunday night.
Offense came out firing
The first three Detroit possessions all resulted in touchdowns. It took a total of 26 plays to traverse the 225 total yards to the three scores.
Jared Goff completed his first 10 passes and was making great decisions. The offensive line was fantastic, firing off the ball in the run game and giving Goff plenty of time to survey the field.
The fast start was a definite requisite for victory. I thought the Rams made a critical error in deferring to the second half and letting the Lions get the ball first and set the tone. The Lions made them pay, seizing a lead they never gave up. For a team that didn’t have playoff experience and probably did have more than a few nerves, letting the Lions get off to the start they did was a massive tactical mistake by Rams coach Sean McVay.
The Ford Field crowd made a difference
One of the underrated keys to the win came courtesy of the fans inside Ford Field. The raucous crowd noise forced the Rams to burn two timeouts in the second half that they desperately needed on the Lions’ final drive.
The crowd was absolutely involved in the game. From the cacophony of boos and chants of “Ja-red Go-ff” raining down on the Rams and Stafford when they took the field, the partisans made it clear there would be no happy homecoming for Stafford.
The disruption on key downs definitely helped the Lions defense. It also undoubtedly lifted the spirits of the team when it looked like the team needed a lift. That’s what home field advantage means.
And the Lions get that advantage next weekend, too.
Red zone defense came up big
The Lions defense wasn’t great in this one. They gave up 367 passing yards to Matthew Stafford, missed several tackles and blew some coverages. They didn’t force a punt until after halftime, and the only sacks (two, both by Aidan Hutchinson) came on mistakes by Stafford.
But they did play well in the red zone. The Rams had first downs in the red zone on three different drives. All three of those possessions ended in field goals instead of touchdowns.
The first down plays in the red zone for the Rams on those drives:
Stafford incomplete pass
Stafford incomplete pass, thrown away under pressure
Kyren Williams tackled for a 1-yard loss by Alex Anzalone
I need to watch the game tape to know for sure, but my initial impression was that the removal of the need to cover the deep ball really played into the hands of the Lions’ beleaguered secondary.
If even one of those drives finishes in a touchdown, the Rams win the game.
Top 3 stars of the game
3rd star: P Jack Fox – 3 punts, 49.3 yards per kick and all three downed inside the 20
2nd star: DE Aidan Hutchinson – 2 sacks, 5 total tackles and 5 QB hits
1st star: QB Jared Goff – 22-for-27, 277 yards, 1 TD, no giveaways, QB Rating of 121.8
Tough to leave Amon-Ra St. Brown off, but all three phases of the game needed to be recognized in this team win. The OL as an entity also deserves mention.
Quick hits
–Sam LaPorta only caught two passes for 13 yards, but one of those catches was a touchdown. Not bad for a guy who was feared to have suffered a serious knee injury a week ago. He looked a little sluggish off the line but otherwise fine.
–Left tackle Taylor Decker might’ve had the best half of his career in the first half of the game. On the first two drives, he won almost every rep. Not a stalemate, but actual wins. Special game for the longest-tenured Lions player. Hopefully the PFF grades reflect that.
–I did not like the idea of dropping Aidan Hutchinson into coverage. That gimmickry works against lesser passing offenses. Stafford, Puka Ncua and Cooper Kupp ate it up.
–Likewise, the Rams kept dropping their own No .97 into coverage and it was essentially free yards for the Lions every time Michael Hoecht did so.
–David Montgomery went four straight drives without a touch. That’s too long not to feed an effective runner.
–The outside CB woes continue, unfortunately. Cam Sutton cannot keep biting on the short routes; he doesn’t have make-up speed, and the safety help over the top is generally unreliable and often nonexistent. If he’s not pressing, he needs to give a big cushion and play long-to-short. True for Kindle Vildor on the other side too.
–Michael Badgley’s 54-yard field goal was good from at least five yards further and was never in doubt. Whew. That’s not a kick the Lions would let Riley Patterson even attempt, and it proved to be the game-winning score.
–A few years ago, an AFC South area scout told me he called a draft prospect “Bluetooth” because he always tried to tackle hands-free. The Bluetooth tackling from the Lions needs to stop. Saw it from Romeo Okwara, Kerby Joseph and C.J. Gardner-Johnson in this game. Gotta do more than just ram a shoulder into someone in the playoffs…
–The Rams missed safety Jordan Fuller in coverage quite a bit, notably early in the game. He’s also a good tackler in space and they missed that on St. Brown all night, too. Fuller was inactive after being listed as questionable.
–The last time the Lions won a playoff game, I was a sophomore in college and had to work during the game. I’ve never seen it beyond highlights. This was my first experience being able to fully embrace and celebrate a Lions playoff victory. Special feeling. I’ll never forget it.