DETROIT (AP) — Jayden Daniels threw for two touchdowns in a flawless performance by Washington’s dazzling rookie, and the Commanders stunned the Detroit Lions 45-31 on Saturday night to reach the NFC championship game for the first time since winning the Super Bowl 33 years ago.
The sixth-seeded Commanders (14-5) were nearly double-digit underdogs against the Super Bowl favorite Lions (15-3) and overcame doubts as they did all season with a rookie quarterback, new coach and general manager.
Detroit, the NFC’s No. 1 seed for the first time, doomed its chances by turning it over five times.
Washington rookie Mike Sainristil had two interceptions, including one on a trick play with receiver Jameson Williams throwing into coverage off a reverse in the fourth quarter. And Quan Martin returned a pick 40 yards for a touchdown.
Jared Goff threw three picks and lost a fumble, turning it over three times in the ill-fated first half.
Daniels finished with 299 yards passing and 51 yards rushing, and — just as important — didn’t turn the ball over.
First-year coach Dan Quinn led Washington to its first playoff win in 19 years last week. The Commanders rallied past Tampa Bay for their sixth comeback win and fifth straight on the final play from scrimmage in regulation or overtime.
The Commanders, who converted 3 of 4 fourth downs, didn’t let Detroit keep it that close.
Washington outscored Detroit 28-14 in the second quarter — the highest-scoring quarter in NFL playoff history — to take a 31-21 lead at halftime.
For decades the Detroit Lions were one of the worst teams in pro football, part of a handful that have never even appeared in a Super Bowl.
This year many experts predict the Lions will win the big game.
And the possibility the long-suffering Lions could actually hoist the championship trophy is driving many in the Motor City to celebrate “restoring the roar” of their favorite team.
Cake and camaraderie
A line of several hundred people curled around the edges of the Home Bakery in the Detroit suburb of Rochester for several days this week.
They were there to see a huge cake in the Bakery’s window — a life-sized replica of Detroit Lions receiver Amon-Ra St. Brown doing a headstand touchdown celebration — and for a chance to win scarce playoff tickets donated by the player.
Visitors to The Home Bakery in Rochester pose for a photo with the life-sized cake replica of Detroit Lions receiver Amon-Ra St. Brown.
But Rob Dolton and his wife said they took the day off work and drove over an hour from Lansing to the shop mainly to be around others celebrating the once-dismal football franchise.
“For somebody that’s been a Lions fans for 40 years and has lived with what we’ve lived with, it’s more than just watching ‘em win,” he said. “It’s watching all of our fans just be so giddy about what’s going on with our team. High-fiving strangers, yelling ‘Go Lions,’ just walking around. Been a long time since we had a team that looked like it could contend and now we’re the favorites. And I don’t even know if we know how to take it right now, ha!”
Nearby, Keena Benning-Dehnke purses her blue lips in the steadily falling snow.
Blue as in Honolulu blue lipstick — one of the Lions team colors.
Benning-Dehnke says she and her husband are 38-year season ticket holders, so it took something more to draw them here than just a cake and the chance to win passes to a game.
Lions fan Keena Benning-Dehnke waits outside The Home Bakery in Rochester.
“We’re here ’cause it’s fun! The whole atmosphere and the buzz around the team winning. It’s an exciting time to be a Lions fan. We waited so long for it. I think it means more to us as fans of losers for so long, we deserve it after all those years,” she said.
As soon as someone makes it inside the bakery another fan arrives to take their place.
Owner Heather Tocco says her football player cake is just one slice of the millions of dollars in economic impact the Lions playoff run is bringing to metro Detroit.
“We were looking to drive some revenue for January sales because typically I have to lay off people and cut their hours,” Tocco said. “I would not have imagined in a million years that I would have a two-hour wait to get into this building to purchase a baked good. I didn’t think it would touch people like that.”
Age is just a number on a jersey
Lions’ fever has reached even senior citizen homes in the region.
At a recent pep rally at the Jewish Senior Life of Metropolitan Detroit’s Fleischman Residence in West Bloomfield, about a half-dozen burly, goateed men dressed to look like Lions Head Coach Dan Campbell led the seniors’ cries of “Go Lions!”
Jewish Senior Life of Metro Detroit residents cheer on the Detroit Lions during the “Roarin’ with Pride Pep Rally” held this week.
Resident Mike Schlussel, 81, says he’s been a devout fan since 1948, and has even helped drown the sorrows of some Lions players following yet-another defeat at a bar he frequented in the 1960s.
“They came in right after the game and it was fantastic because they were willing to talk to you even though they lost. All you could say to ‘em was ‘We’ll get it, we’ll get it.’ And now we got it. But God help us because this city will go crazy if the Lions win the Super Bowl. And we deserve it. It’s been a long time coming,” Schlussel said.
That’s especially true for resident Steve Meyers, who was born roughly a decade before the Lions first came to Detroit in 1934.
He first watched the team from the snow-covered upper bleachers of an outdoor stadium.
Meyers says some things, like re-selling tickets, still remain the same as back then.
Other things, like ticket prices — not so much.
“We’d go get a car load, four guys and go downtown. And we used to buy the tickets off of people that had too many. They charged $3, $4. Those were the days,” he said.
The coach who always goes for it
These days the Lions capture fans’ hearts with a steady string of wins and the presence of colorful Coach Dan Campbell.
He preaches grit and determination during games, an aggressive style that’s had the Lions go for it on fourth down more than any other NFL team during his four-year tenure.
Detroit Lions head coach Dan Campbell smiles along the sidelines during the first half of an NFL football game against the Chicago Bears on Sunday, Dec. 22, 2024, in Chicago.
Campbell’s even used his signature go-for-broke style to become a sought-after pitchman for companies.
In just one TV advertisement example, Campbell intones, “Fourth and inches, fourth and 10 nor fourth and a fighting chance. At Henry Ford Health, we go for it. We don’t back down.”
Now the Lions face the equally aggressive Washington Commanders in Detroit’s first playoff game this year, one that could possibly lead to players hoisting the championship Lombardi trophy.
And Campbell says the Lion’s recent rise from league doormats has the team ready for whatever happens on the football field.
“We’re in the middle of the circus, man. And it’s about time to perform.”
–Detroit Lions Head Coach Dan Campbell
“We’ve been so good, we’ve been so bad. We’re a laughing stock, now we’re great,” he said. “It’s just been this roller coaster of ups and downs. This is nothing new that we’re in. We’re in the middle of the circus, man. And it’s about time to perform.”
Now Campbell and the Lions are just a few wins away from what once seemed almost impossible: An elusive Super Bowl victory.
The Lions will face the No. 6 seed Commanders at Ford Field on Saturday night with an 8 p.m. kick off.
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