Detroit Lions fans are in Dreamland.
It may have never been as comfortable as some would have hoped, but the Lions beat the Buccaneers 31-23 Sunday at Ford Field to advance to their first NFC Championship game in 32 years.
When the Buccaneers got the ball on their own 10 yard line after the two minute warning, tensions were certainly high. But two plays and 30 seconds later, the party was officially on when Derrick Barnes intercepted Baker Mayfield to seal the win.
Barnes ended the game the same way C.J. Gardner-Johnson started it on the Lions’ first defensive possession of the game — a massive INT.
What happened in between those two picks will be remembered as the day Dan Campbell, Jared Goff and Co. took their long-beleaguered team to within one game of the Super Bowl.
Goff threw for 287 yards and two touchdowns on 30-of-43 passing, again leading to postgame chants of his name echoing throughout Ford Field as fans celebrated another historic moment a week after beating former QB Matthew Stafford and the L.A. Rams.
Goff’s second strike of the day went to Pro Bowl snub Amon-Ra St. Brown, who finished with eight catches for 77 yards. The touchdown extended the Lions’ lead to 31-17 with under 6:00 to play.
The win didn’t come without a loss, however, as Pro Bowl G Jonah Jackson suffered a knee injury in the first half and missed the remainder of the game. His status moving forward was not immediately clear.
The Lions now head west to take on the NFC West champion San Francisco 49ers, who beat the Packers in a thriller Saturday night.