Following their heartbreaking loss in the NFC championship game the previous season, the San Francisco 49ers have been waiting a full year to return to the game.
The Detroit Lions, a team bereft of success, are just one game away from making their first Super Bowl appearance, but their fans have had to wait considerably longer.
When the clubs play in the NFC championship game on Sunday, one of two things will happen: either the Lions (14-5) will triumph in their first appearance on this stage in 32 years, or the Niners (13-5) will exact revenge for title game losses from the previous two seasons.
“Over the entire season, you put in a lot of work. We discussed it the entire season. to be able to arrange things such that we can re-play the NFC championship game. 49ers All-Pro linebacker Fred Warner stated, “We accomplished that.” “We currently have that chance. I am aware of the talent, players, and team composition that we have.
“I’m sure we can finish this if we give it our all for three hours.”
Under head coach Kyle Shanahan, San Francisco has been a strong contender for the previous five seasons, but this is unfamiliar territory for the Lions.
After joining the team in 2021, coach Dan Campbell spearheaded a transformation that culminated with Detroit hosting and winning a postseason game for the first time in thirty-two years this season.
Campbell received the opportunity to become an NFL coach full-time for the first time from Lions owner Sheila Ford Hamp, whose late father, William Clay Ford, purchased the franchise six decades earlier.
Campbell stated on Thursday, “It feels good to prove her right, but we’re not done yet.”
There is now an opportunity for the only team that has participated in every Super Bowl season without making it to the championship game to break that streak.
Quarterback Jared Goff, who played for the Rams five years ago in the Super Bowl, said, “There are four teams left, and these are the times you dream of as a kid and you grow up, hoping to be in these final games.”
“We just need one more victory to reach our ultimate objective of making it to the Super Bowl and winning that game as well.”
FAMILIAR FOE
Goff, who played his first five seasons in the NFC West with the Rams, has a lengthy history of playing against the 49ers. With a 136.3 passer rating, nine touchdowns, and no interceptions in three starts during the 2017–18 season, Goff emerged victorious in the initial meetings with Shanahan’s Niners.
Goff struggled against San Francisco as they got better, dropping all four of those games in 2019 and 2020 while finishing with a 70.3 rating, four touchdowns, and four interceptions. This time, the Niners anticipate a far superior Goff.
GAME-BREAKING SPEED
In Detroit’s victory against Tampa Bay last week, rookie running back Jahmyr Gibbs, 21, became the youngest player in NFL history to score the game-winning touchdown in overtime or the fourth quarter of a playoff game.
With a 31-yard rush that broke a tie with the Buccaneers and left at least one teammate speechless, Gibbs started on the left and darted to his right.
GO GET IT
This game presents a stark contrast in coaching styles as Shanahan has typically been more conservative and Campbell is among the most likely to go for it on fourth downs.
With 118 fourth-down attempts since Campbell’s arrival, Detroit leads the NFL and has converted 52.5% of them. With two touchdowns on fourth-and-short plays, the Lions are 2 for 2 in the postseason. Detroit shares the NFL record with 13 touchdowns on fourth down throughout the regular season and playoffs since 2021.
Shanahan remarked, “Those guys are trying to steal possessions as much as they can.” “I’ll let you know whether or not that’s good for us after the game.
You always run the risk of losing possession when you attempt to steal something. Therefore, while they are chances for them, they’re also significant opportunities for us.
Over the last three seasons, San Francisco has tried the third fewest fourth-down attempts in the league with just 50 attempts.
HISTORY MAKING
Aidan Hutchinson, a defensive end for the Lions, grew up in a suburban Detroit and attended Michigan, providing him with a close-up perspective of the struggling Motor City team that has enthralled its fan base.
“A lot of the same-old Lions stuff and a lot of the tragedy is part of growing up here,” Hutchinson remarked. “Watching that generation grow up with this Lions team and the Lions teams to come is cool,” the person said, referring to recordings of young children.
HERE WE GOOO!
The Lions frequently get home by blitzing defensive backs.
In last week’s victory over Tampa Bay, Ifeatu Melifonwu became the first safety in the NFL to have one and a half sacks in a postseason game in nine years. He also set a team milestone for the most sacks by a defensive back with four. Meanwhile, rookie Brian Branch broke the franchise record with eight tackles for loss from a secondary player.
Campbell declared, “I’m willing to give something up in order to get something.”
