The NFL scriptwriters hit this one out of the park.
Rams quarterback Matthew Stafford is headed again to Detroit for a wild-card spherical recreation in opposition to the Lions subsequent weekend.
Los Angeles’ 21-20 win over the 49ers clinched the No. 6 seed for the Rams. Dallas’ 38-10 win over the Commanders made the Cowboys the No. 2 seed, sealing Detroit in at No. 3.
Stafford was the Lions’ quarterback from 2009-20 and was traded to the Rams earlier than the 2021 season. In his first yr in Los Angeles, Stafford led the Rams to a win in Tremendous Bowl LVI over the Bengals.
The Lions have not gained a playoff recreation for the reason that 1991 divisional spherical, which was additionally the final time they hosted a playoff recreation.
Per Action Network, Detroit opened as a four-point favourite in subsequent weekend’s recreation. That is regardless of the Lions doubtlessly dropping their useful rookie tight finish Sam LaPorta and the protection struggling over the past three weeks, together with in Week 18 when it allowed 396 yards to Vikings quarterback Nick Mullens.
Stafford returned from a 2022 season hampered by accidents, together with a concussion and season-ending neck harm, to guide the Rams again to the postseason after they went 5-12 final yr. He completed the common season 326-of-521 (62.6%) for 3,965 yards, 24 touchdowns and 11 interceptions, and performed arguably his finest soccer over the past month of the season.
Lions quarterback Jared Goff’s storyline getting into wild-card week is nice, too. The No. 1 total choose of the 2016 NFL Draft by the Rams, Goff was traded to Detroit as a part of the Stafford deal, one season after he led Los Angeles to a Tremendous Bowl look.
The matchup at quarterback units up Rams-Lions as probably the most intriguing recreation within the NFC for the wild-card spherical. The league could not have scripted it any higher.
