The streak has officially been broken, with the Detroit Lions defeating the Los Angeles Rams 24-23 on Sunday night in the Wild Card Round to secure the franchise’s first playoff victory in 32 years.
Detroit doesn’t just break their playoff curse, but they get to host yet another playoff game next weekend as they’ll take on the winner of the Philadelphia Eagles and Tampa Bay Buccaneers matchup on Monday night.
With that in mind, Lions star defensive lineman Aidan Hutchinson was asked if he could have imagined that his team would be hosting yet another playoff game. Revealing that he and his teammates actually wanted a piece of the Dallas Cowboys on the road in their second-round matchup.
“No, I think we all wanted Dallas again,” Hutchinson admitted. “But the fact that we’re back here it’s a blessing, so it’s gonna be fun next weekend.”
Dallas lost shockingly in their playoff game earlier in the day, falling to the Green Bay Packers 48-32 as the No. 2 seed in the NFC and a 7.5-point home favorite over the Packers heading into their matchup. The loss marked the Cowboys’ first at home this season, with their last home win coming against the Lions in Week 17 with a narrow 20-19 win over Detroit.
It’s clear that Hutchinson and his teammates still remember that loss, and wanted their shot at revenge in AT&T Stadium. But the football gods seemed to have other plans for the NFC playoff picture.
Hutchinson is a Michigan native, born in Plymouth as a Lions fan who’s had a front-row seat to the franchise’s shortcomings over the years. Making him being a part of delivering the Lions their first playoff win in over three decades extra special on Sunday night.
“Going into this game I had two things I was playing for. I was playing for my teammates and I was playing for the city. This city has been so deserving of this for so long and we’re gonna keep it up,” Hutchinson said.
“They deserve it man, they’ve been through a lot of years of bad football and I think this is just the start of something for a very long time.”
Hutchinson had a monster game for Detroit, ending the night with six tackles, two tackles for loss, two sacks, and five quarterback hurries.
There’s no question he made his presence felt in what will go down as one of the biggest game in Detroit’s franchise history, which he’ll look to build on next Sunday against the Eagles or the Buccaneers.
More must-reads: