The NFC Championship Game between the San Francisco 49ers and the Detroit Lions will take place in California the next week to determine who advances to Super Bowl LVIII as the NFC representative.
The Detroit Lions defeated the Tampa Bay Buccaneers 31–23 on Sunday afternoon to set up a meeting at Levi's Stadium the following week. San Francisco, the top-seeded team in the NFC, defeated the Green Bay Packers on Saturday night to secure the right to host the Lions.
The Bucs, who had won five of their previous six games, would be the team the Lions had to defeat.
In the fourth quarter, the Lions took a 14-point lead thanks to touchdown runs of 31 yards by Jahmyr Gibbs and 9 yards by Amon-Ra St. Brown.suffice to get Detroit to its first NFC Championship Game since 1991.
With one minute and 59 seconds remaining, the Bucs held the ball at their 10-yard line and were able to trim the margin to 31-23. But Detroit's linebacker Derrick Barnes' diving interception secured the victory after just two plays.
It was a total team victory.
After a C.J. Gardner-Johnson interception at midfield, Michael Badgley's 23-yard field goal gave Detroit their first lead of the game on their second possession.
Josh Reynolds, a wide receiver, scored on a 9-yard touchdown reception early in the second quarter to give Detroit a 10-3 lead. The drive consisted of 14 plays and 75 yards of scoring.
With just 19 seconds remaining in the first half, quarterback Baker Mayfield found tight end Cade Otton for a 2-yard touchdown throw, tying the score for Tampa Bay. A 56-yard gain from two receptions by Mike Evans helped set up the score.
With a 2-yard touchdown run on a fourth and goal play late in the third quarter, Detroit took a 17-10 lead.
In the last seconds of the third quarter, Tampa Bay tied the score 17–17 thanks to Mayfield's second touchdown pass of the game, a 12-yard screen to running back Rachaad White that forced a blitz by the Lions' defense.
With just over 13 minutes remaining in the game, Gibbs took the Lions the lead once more in a back-and-forth match that had lasted the entire afternoon. With just under six minutes remaining in the game, St. Brown increased their lead to 31-17.
The Bucs and Mayfield weren't done yet. After Evans' 16-yard touchdown run, they covered 75 yards in just nine plays, saving over two minutes of play time, to close the gap to one point. To continue the drive, the Bucs converted a fourth and 14.
But in the end, Detroit's victory was saved by Barnes and the Lions' defense.
QB Comparison: With a 103.5 passer rating, quarterback Jared Goff completed 30 of 43 passes for 287 yards and two touchdowns while committing no interceptions. In addition, he gained six yards through six rushes, including a first down.
With a 94.5 rating, Mayfield completed 26 of his 41 passes for three touchdowns and two interceptions.
Big moment: In just 14 plays during the fourth quarter, the game drastically changed. In the last minute and a half, Gibbs gave the Lions a 24–17 lead.
After stopping Tampa Bay from making a three-pointer and out, Detroit's defense returned the ball to the offense at their 11-yard line. Goff directed a 10-play, 89-yard drive that resulted in the loss of almost six minutes of game time.by the touchdown from St. Brown to tie the score at 31–17.
Important statistic: In the first meeting between these two teams in Week 6, the Lions were limited to only 40 yards on 22 carries. This time around, the Lions used their run game as a weapon, amassing 114 yards on the ground and two scores on 26 tries.
Injury report: Jonah Jackson, the starting left guard, had a knee injury in the second quarter and did not return.
After suffering a forearm injury, tight end Brock Wright also missed time.
Next week: on January 28, at 6:30 p.m. EST, in San Francisco
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