DETROIT — Jared Goff lifted his arms in the air, encouraging fans at Ford Field to get even louder, before taking the final snap to end his long-suffering franchise’s skid in the NFL playoffs.
The crowd delivered, approaching the decibel level of a siren.
The home team’s quarterback had already come through for the Detroit Lions.
Goff threw for a touchdown and completed a pass for a victory-sealing first down against the team that cast him away, and the Lions won a playoff game for the first time in 32 years, beating former Detroit quarterback Matthew Stafford and the Los Angeles Rams 24-23 on Sunday night in an NFC wild-card matchup.
The Lions ended a nine-game postseason losing streak — the longest in NFL history — that dated to a victory over the Dallas Cowboys on Jan. 5, 1992. They lost a home playoff game two years later and hadn’t hosted one since.
“It means a whole lot to this city,” Goff said. “We knew what it meant when this season started to get into the playoffs and then to get this win. And, you know, it’s just the beginning for us. We’ve got some run left.”
Detroit, the NFC’s No. 3 seed after winning the North Division title with a 12-5 record in the regular season, will have two home playoff games for the first time in franchise history, hosting either the Tampa Bay Buccaneers or the Philadelphia Eagles in the divisional round next Sunday. Those teams meet Monday night in Tampa, Florida.
Second-seeded Dallas, the NFC East champ, was routed by the Green Bay Packers, the lowest seed at No. 7, earlier Sunday, giving the NFC North two wins.
The Rams, the NFC West champions at 10-7, had a chance to take the lead late in the fourth quarter, but Detroit’s defense denied them. A holding penalty pushed Los Angeles out of field-goal range, and Stafford — who won a Super Bowl to cap the 2021 season, his first campaign after he was traded to the Rams — threw incomplete on fourth down.
On the first play after the two-minute warning, Goff hit Amon-Ra St. Brown for 11 yards, allowing the Lions to run out the clock — much to the delight of Detroit fans who witnessed the franchise’s second postseason victory since winning the 1957 NFL title.
“That’s the best home atmosphere I’ve ever played in, and I expect next week will top that,” Goff said.
Facing the franchise he once led to a Super Bowl, Goff was 22-of-27 passing for 277 yards and threw a 2-yard touchdown pass to rookie tight end Sam LaPorta that put Detroit ahead 21-10 midway through the second quarter.
The Lions acquired Goff and a pair of first-round picks for Stafford three years ago.
“Jared was really efficient. You could see the command that he has,” said Rams coach Sean McVay, whose relationship with Goff soured before the trade. “There’s a lot made of it, but I’m really happy for him. We wanted to come away with a win, but he’s done a great job.”
Stafford, who played most of the game with a bandaged and bloody hand after he slammed it into a defender’s helmet, finished 25-of-36 for 367 yards with two touchdowns.
“I wouldn’t want anyone else as our quarterback other than Matthew Stafford,” McVay said. “He was outstanding. He was gritty. He was gutsy and made tough throw after tough throw. The rush was barreling down on him, and he stood in there and was dropping dimes all day.”
Detroit drafted Stafford No. 1 overall in 2009 out of the University of Georgia, and while he put up gaudy statistics during his time with the Lions, he didn’t win a playoff game in his 12 seasons, going 0-for-3 in the postseason. Stafford hugged dozens of Detroit’s players and staff members after the game.
“I’m happy for the players,” he said. “I’m happy for those guys.”
Record-breaking rookie Puka Nacua had nine receptions for 181 yards and a touchdown for the Rams.
David Montgomery and rookie Jahmyr Gibbs — a former Dalton (Georgia) High School star — each had a rushing score for the Lions, and St. Brown had seven receptions for 110 yards.
After trailing by 11 points, the Rams got within 21-17 at halftime thanks to Stafford’s 50-yard touchdown pass to Nacua and his 38-yarder to Tutu Atwell.
Michael Badgley’s season-long 54-yard field goal — the longest of his postseason career, and tied for the longest in Detroit’s playoff history — gave the Lions a seven-point lead midway through the third quarter.
The Rams moved the ball at will for much of the game, but they had to settle for short field goals by Brett Maher to get within 24-23 with 8:10 remaining.
“The difference in the game was the red area,” McVay said of not getting touchdowns out of trips inside the 20-yard line.
Stafford has made a career of fourth-quarter comebacks, a fact the fans at Ford Field were well aware of. With a chance to put the Rams ahead for the first time, he led a drive to the Detroit 34-yard line, but the defense forced him backward from there.
Detroit took over with 4:07 to go, and Los Angeles had only one timeout left after calling two earlier in the half to cope with the crowd noise. That allowed Goff to take a knee after his throw to St. Brown.
The Lions started strong and looked as fired up as their success-starved fans, with rapper and Motor City native Eminem in the house, along with Pro Football Hall of Famers Barry Sanders and Calvin Johnson, whose prolific numbers rushing and receiving, respectively, were never quite enough for teams that fell short of getting to the next level.
“When we came out for pregame warmups, it was already buzzing,” Lions coach Dan Campbell said.
The fans showered Stafford with boos when he ran onto the field, where he posed for a pregame photo with his wife and their daughters, but they chanted “Jar-ed Goff! Jar-ed Goff!” in support of their starter.
Detroit defensive end Aidan Hutchinson, a second-year pro who grew up in suburban Detroit and starred at Michigan, had two sacks among his five quarterback hits in the game.
“I had two things I was playing for: I was playing for my teammates, and I was playing for the city,” he said. “This city has been so deserving of this for so long, and we’re going to keep it up.”