I've been covering this team for 10 years and I've been a fan my whole life. For a long time I wondered if I would ever get to type words like I'm about to type. Now I can. Here goes, I'm going to type them right now. You ready? The Detroit Lions are going to the NFC Championship game.

As always, I have thoughts on this game. These are those thoughts: 

Goff Report

Jared Goff is playing the best football of his career right now. What a time to do it right? Goff didn't complete 81.5% of his passes like he did last week, but he came pretty close to that again. Goff completed 69.8% of his passes for 287 yards yards and two touchdowns. A very good performance. Especially late in the game. Goff went 11-12 for 131 yards and a touchdown in the fourth quarter. 

Defense

You want to know why Aaron Glenn is going to get a head coaching job this year? Look at what the Lions defense has been able to do in the playoffs. Yeah, they're still allowing the yardage and some points, but the Lions continue to get the necessary stops when they're necessary. They got home on Mayfield four times and picked him off twice. They also only allowed four third down conversions.

Sandwich

Look, the Lions winning that game was a big story on Sunday. We all know that, but I need to know what happened with this:

No matter what happens the rest of the Lions game, the most impressive thing I’ll see today might be this sandwich pic.twitter.com/IB9GvIWYTb

— Taylor DesOrmeau (@TDesOrmeau) January 21, 2024

So, Obviously this sandwich is on the menu at Ford Field. He did not drive this from his house tot he stadium in his Mystery Machine with his dog Scooby. The sandwich costs $250! No word on if he finished it or if he has a stomach ache at this time. 

Safety Dance

The Lions secondary is going to need some work in the offseason when it comes to cornerbacks, but they have a special group at safety and they all contributed something last night. Brian Branch had sack, Ifeatu Melifonwu had a sack and a half and C.J. Gardner-Johnson had an interception. What a night from this group. 

Positional value?

Everyone mocked this Lions draft class. The weird thing was that draft experts said the players that the Lions took were good, but where they took them hurt them. I get what they're saying, but it also makes no sense. 

Anyways, those guys rocked it for the Lions in the divisional round of the playoffs. Jahmyr Gibbs went off for 114 total yards and a big 31 yard touchdown on the ground. Sam LaPorta set an NFL record for most receptions by a tight end in the postseason. Jack Campbell didn't light things up like everyone else did, but he contributed nicely. 

What a moment for Barnes

We've all been waiting for a moment in which Derrick Barnes pushed himself over the edge. He's been sitting right there this whole time. We've been waiting to see if he fall to the side where he's a contributor or fall to the side where he makes huge plays and we see him become that guy we knew he could be. On Sunday night he fell to the latter side with the biggest interception in Lions history to this point. What will Barnes do next? 

Happy cry

I'm not a crier. Not because I don't think it's manly or something like that. I just struggle to do it. Like it's a thing my body doesn't do. But it's done it in the last two weeks. I didn't ball, but I teared up in the press box when the Lions beat the Rams. I cried again this week when the Lions advanced to NFC Championship. 

How could you not? We've been waiting our entire lives for this moment. Even if you're not a Lions fan, the story is there for everyone. Who doesn't love to see a team rise from the ashes and do big things? It's a Disney movie right now. 

Lions’ Frank Ragnow is one tough you know what part 2

The Detroit Lions just won a huge game over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. A win that will send them to the NFC Championship game for the time since 1991. It's easy to look at Jared Goff's big night or the defense showing up. The biggest takeaway from me was that man in the middle of […]