The fans at Ford Field have been bringing the noise all season. The Lions have one request ahead of Sunday night's playoff game against the Rams: turn it up.
"Come as loud as they’ve been, and then some," said running back David Montgomery.
"Just go crazy," said defensive tackle Alim McNeill. "That’s what we finna do, we finna just go crazy and play like our hair’s on fire. I don’t know how to tell them how to act, this is my first (playoff game), too. I’m finna just go crazy, so they need to go crazy. They need to be loud in there."
They will be, of course. Lions fans have only been waiting for this game for 30 years, and it just so happens to come against the former face of the franchise in Matthew Stafford. They will be ready to welcome him rudely back to town.
Linebacker and co-captain Alex Anzalone has a specific request of the fans to make life extra difficult for Stafford, on top of being "a little more rowdy than the regular season."
"Preferably, this is my personal request, is to get loud as the quarterback is getting in the huddle, as opposed to after he breaks the huddle," Anzalone said. "So that’s my request. But outside of that, just be really rowdy."
By taking Anzalone's cue, the fans will make it harder for Stafford to get the call from his headset and pass it onto his teammates, which will cause further confusion at the line of scrimmage. Stafford and the Rams are prepared for it, of course, ready to use a silent-count throughout the game if they have to. Still, that can create gaps in communication and lead to procedure penalties on the offense.
"It’s going to be a great atmosphere, probably one of the best we’ve played in in a long time," Stafford said Wednesday. "It’ll be loud, it’ll be really tough for us to communicate as an offense and we understand that. But those are the kind of fun experiences you want as a player in the NFL and I’m sure Sunday will be that way."
While crowd noise will help, the best way for the Lions to contain Stafford and the Rams passing attack is simple: "We gotta get to him," said McNeill.
"We gotta get to the quarterback. If we get to him, he can’t throw the ball. I wouldn’t say it’s as simple as that, but that’s a good way to put it. We gotta get to him because he can make all those throws. He’s still Matthew Stafford," said McNeill.
Detroit's secondary also must step up against Puka Nacua and Cooper Kupp, one of the best receiving duos in the NFL. But the defensive front can ease some of the strain on the backend by getting Stafford off his spot. He had a passer rating of 99.6 this season when kept clean, 82.9 when blitzed and 75.7 when pressured, according to Pro Football Focus.
What's more, Stafford is one of the best deep-ball quarterbacks in the NFL. He had a rating of 120.5 this season on throws of 20-plus yards, fourth best in the league. Those are plays that take time to develop. His rating was a much more pedestrian 91.58 on short and intermediate throws. The Lions can keep him in check if they limit his chances to drive the ball downfield.
That is, they can slow him down by speeding him up. And the home crowd can help.
"They’re hot right now," Anzalone said of the Rams, "and we have them coming into town."