It wasn't the prettiest Detroit Lions game ever, but that doesn't matter. All that does matter is that the Lions have ended their 30 year playoff drought with a 24-23 win over Matthew Stafford and the Rams.
As always, I have thoughts on this game. These are those thoughts:
It's finally over
I was six years old the last time the Lions won a playoff game. I don't remember that win over the Cowboys. I've never had a playoff win to call my own until Sunday night. That drought and all the comments that you hear about the drought are over. You will never again hear something to the effect of "the Lions are looking for their first playoff win since 1991." That's done. You'll never see you team get slandered online by fans of other teams because your team can't win a playoff game.
This is the start of something bigger than we could ever imagine. This is the beginning of a new future for the Lions. We'll find out what the next step is next week.
Goff Report
Jared Goff sure picked a good day to play one of his most complete games of the season. Goff completed 81.5% of his passes for 277 yards and a touchdown. The biggest pass obviously came at the end of the game when he hit Amon-Ra St. Brown on a 11 yard pass that gave the Lions a first down and ended the game. What a moment for a guy that was once thought of as a throwaway or a bridge quarterback.
Defense
The Lions defense had some problems in this one. Mostly with Puka Nacua. The rookie gashed the Lions defense with nine catches for 181 yards and a touchdown. Still, they hung in there when they needed to kept the Rams out of the end zone in the entire second half of the game. The big stop coming on the Rams final third down when they were able to get a pass breakup and force a punt.
A false what now?
I seriously don't know what officials saw here. This was clear as day a neutral zone Infraction. Yet, it was ruled a false start when nobody on the Lions offensive line moved.
Josh Reynolds
Jared Goff and and Matthew Stafford aren't the only players that came to play against their former teams. Josh Reynolds went off in the first half of the game with five catches for 80 yards. The Rams managed to keep him quiet in the second half, but his first half was still enough to make things happen.
The third down problem
The Lions have a real issue with getting opposing offenses into position where they have them dead to rights on third and long and then they just let them off the hook. It's really hurting this team. If they could simply finish the drive on defense, they'd be in much better shape. There were multiple times this happened on Sunday night and it led to touchdowns.
Where do we go from here?
The Lions will host a second straight playoff game next week when they take on the winner of the Eagles and Buccaneers game. Both teams represent a chance for the Lions to keep their season going since both teams have struggled as of late. We'll see what happens on Monday.
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