Football season in Detroit.
Ford Field will open its gates at least one more time this season as the Lions will host either Philadelphia or Tampa Bay next Sunday afternoon at Ford Field in the Divisional Round of the playoffs at 3 p.m.
They get that honor for the first time since 1991 after defeating the Los Angeles Rams Sunday night, 24-23, in an entertaining Wild Card matchup between the No. 3 seed Lions and No. 6 seed Rams. The Lions got a complete team win to beat the Rams with their offense getting the lead early and sealing it late, their defense forcing some key red zone and late-game stops, and their special teams playing perfect.
And with No. 7 seed Green Bay beating the No. 2 seed Dallas Cowboys at home Sunday afternoon, Detroit now gets to host the winner of Monday night’s matchup between the No. 4 Buccaneers (9-8) and No. 5 Eagles (11-6) in Tampa. Green Bay will head to San Francisco to play the No. 1 seed 49ers in the other NFC semifinal matchup.
“I had no preference there if we had to go to Dallas, great, now we get a home game, even better,” Lions quarterback Jared Goff said after the game. “But yeah, once (Green Bay) got out to that early lead, you’re like, ‘Alright, we win this game, we get another one at home.’ And yeah, we’re excited.”
Ford Field was such a home-field advantage for the Lions Sunday and next week is expected to be the same.