Like Sean McVay last week, Baker Mayfield had nothing but good things to say about playing at Ford Field. Nothing but respect for the fans who made it shake. Nothing but admiration for the team that beat his.
"Yeah, this is a great atmosphere," Mayfield said after the Lions ended the Bucs' season with a 31-23 win in front of another raucous crowd in Detroit. "You can tell this city has had a lot of pent-up emotion and been waiting a long time for this."
Mayfield, in some ways, can relate. He quarterbacked the Cleveland Browns, who drafted him first overall in 2018, to their first division title and first playoff win in 24 years in 2020, but that was during the COVID season when crowds were thinned out across the NFL. Jared Goff, another former first overall pick, led the Lions to their first division title in 30 years and first playoff win in 32 years this season.
Now they're a win away from their first-ever trip to the Super Bowl.
"I can’t say that I exactly went through it in Cleveland when we made our run because it was the COVID year, but this place, they’ve earned that," Mayfield said. "Dan Campbell has done a hell of a job turning this thing around. I’m happy for Jared, and they have a lot of good players. They play hard. You can tell this city, they play for each other. It was a great atmosphere and they got the best of us.”
Mayfield made the Lions earn it, throwing for 349 yards and three touchdowns. The Lions also made him pay for his mistakes, picking him off on the Bucs' first and last drives of the game. C.J. Gardner-Johnson got the first one, and Derrick Barnes got the second to seal the game and send the Lions to San Francisco.
McVay, head coach of the Rams, tipped his cap in similar fashion to Detroit after the Lions ended LA's season in the wild-card round: "The fans were booing my ass when I walked out and they were all fired up. And I loved it. It’s what’s great about NFL football, and this city is a great football city."
"So nothing but respect," said McVay.