There will be history at Ford Field Sunday one way or another.
The Detroit Lions have played there for more than 20 seasons, and yet the wild-card game against the Los Angeles Rams will be the first playoff game they’ve hosted there.
Going further back, it’s the Lions’ first home playoff game in 30 years — to the week. Detroit last made the postseason in the 2016 season and has lost its past nine playoff games.
And yes, there’s another bit of history.
Jared Goff and Matthew Stafford — two quarterbacks traded for one another — will square off in one of the more anticipated playoff games of the weekend. It will be Stafford’s first game back in Detroit as an opponent. The two faced each other two seasons ago, with Stafford and the Rams besting a then-winless Lions team in Los Angeles. Things have changed quite a bit since.
The Lions have had a dream season, winning the NFC North for the first time since division realignment in 2022 and winning their most games (12) since 1991. They went 6-2 at home and didn’t lose back-to-back games all season.
The Rams took a far different path to the postseason. They crawled into the Week 10 bye at 3-6, enduring the rebuilding season many predicted back in August. But something funny happened: The Rams became one of the hottest teams in the NFL, winning seven of eight games down the stretch. Their only loss? In overtime at Baltimore.
Both the Rams (Aaron Donald) and Lions (Aidan Hutchinson) have stars on the defensive side of the ball. But this will be a battle Sunday night of two top-10 offenses going head to head. The Lions rank third in total yards and fifth in points. The Rams rank seventh in yards and eighth in points.
And, yes, those quarterbacks are a big reason why, making that storyline impossible to overlook. Will it be Goff who gets the last laugh against Rams coach Sean McVay, the man who traded him? Or will Stafford return to the place where thousands of his jerseys have been worn in the stands and continue Detroit’s playoff misery?
Here are three things to watch for when the Rams visit the Lions on Sunday during Super Wild Card Weekend: