{"id":10829,"date":"2025-01-17T00:52:48","date_gmt":"2025-01-17T00:52:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/?p=10829"},"modified":"2025-01-17T00:52:48","modified_gmt":"2025-01-17T00:52:48","slug":"breaking-news-lions-ready-to-show-true-grit-saturday-vs-commanders","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/?p=10829","title":{"rendered":"BREAKING NEWS: Lions ready to show true grit Saturday vs. Commanders"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

Detroit ‘officially’ kicks off Super Bowl quest<\/h2>\n

\"Detroit<\/p>\n

Detroit Lions quarterback Jared Goff (16) signals during the first half of an NFL football game against the Minnesota Vikings, Sunday, Jan. 5, 2025, in Detroit. (AP Photo\/Charlie Riedel)<\/em><\/p>\n

DETROIT (AP) \u2014 The Detroit Lions are riding high, elevated to a status they\u2019ve never had as Super Bowl favorites.<\/p>\n

Detroit\u00a0will host the\u00a0Washington Commanders\u00a0on Saturday night in the\u00a0divisional round\u00a0as the NFC\u2019s No. 1 seed for the first time in franchise history, an advantage it earned by winning a team-record 15 games.<\/p>\n

The\u00a0Lions\u00a0(15-2) are favored to beat Washington (13-5) by more than a touchdown, according to BetMGM Sportsbook, in the first step toward ending an NFL championship drought that dates to 1957.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe were the hunters and now we\u2019re the hunted in the lions\u2019 den,\u201d\u00a0All-Pro safety Kerby Joseph\u00a0said.<\/p>\n

\"Lions<\/p>\n

Detroit has the best odds to hoist the Lombardi Trophy, according to BetMGM, ahead of the two-time defending champion Kansas City Chiefs, Baltimore, Philadelphia and Buffalo.<\/p>\n

Dan Campbell, though, knows this is just the latest take on his team.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve been so good, we\u2019ve been so bad, we\u2019re a laughingstock, now we\u2019re great,\u201d said Detroit\u2019s coach, who was 4-18-1 more than a year into his four-season tenure. \u201cIt\u2019s just been this roller coaster of ups and downs. This is nothing new for me, for the coaches, for the players.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re in the middle of the circus, man, and it\u2019s about time to perform.\u201d<\/p>\n

Washington, meanwhile, has nothing to lose.<\/p>\n

With a new quarterback, coach and\u00a0general manager, the Commanders were predicted to win about six games.<\/p>\n

Jayden Daniels\u00a0had other ideas.<\/p>\n

He had the most comeback wins in the regular season and playoffs when trailing in the fourth quarter by an NFL quarterback since the start of the 1950 season, helping his team rally from late deficits to win six games, including last week\u2019s wild-card victory at Tampa Bay \u2014 Washington\u2019s first playoff triumph in 19 years.<\/p>\n

Daniels became the first rookie in NFL history to lead his team in yards rushing and passing in a playoff win and the first rookie quarterback to throw at least two touchdown passes in a road playoff victory since Washington\u2019s Sammy Baugh threw for three TDs against Chicago in the 1937 NFL title game.<\/p>\n

The Commanders say it would be foolish to count them out now.<\/p>\n

\u201cEven before the season, they wrote us out and they counted us out over and over again throughout the season,\u201d running back Brian Robinson Jr. said. \u201cWe see that. We feel that energy. We just want to continue to leave no doubt that we are who we say we are and prove people wrong.\u201d<\/p>\n

Going for it<\/strong>Campbell and\u00a0Commanders coach Dan Quinn\u00a0are two of the most aggressive and effective coaches on fourth down.<\/p>\n

Detroit converted 22 of 33 attempts on fourth down and Washington was 20 of 23 during the regular season, an 87% rate that was the best in the NFL since since 2000.<\/p>\n

The Lions have kept their offense on the field, instead of kicking field goals or punting, a\u00a0league-high 151 times\u00a0on fourth down over the last four seasons. Campbell is the only NFL coach to go for it that many times in a four-year span since at least 1991.<\/p>\n

Washington went for it on fourth down five times against the Buccaneers and was successful three times, including a late touchdown pass from Daniels to Terry McLaurin.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey\u2019re excellent at it, we\u2019re excellent at it,\u201d Quinn said. \u201cObviously big parts of the game to go through.\u201d<\/p>\n

Night moves<\/strong>The Lions are 11-2 in prime time under Campbell, another metric that favors the home team Saturday night.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe thrive in this,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Five the hard way<\/strong>The Commanders are on a five-game streak of winning on the final play from scrimmage, including the game-ending field goal against Tampa Bay.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s what you kind of play the sport for \u2014 when it\u2019s time, to go out there and make plays,\u201d Daniels said. \u201cYou\u2019re going to see who rises to the occasion and makes plays.\u201d<\/p>\n

Bolstered backfield<\/strong>Detroit\u2019s determination to run the ball should get a boost with the return of David Montgomery from a knee injury that kept him out of the lineup for a month. He rejoins Jahmyr Gibbs in the backfield.<\/p>\n

The dynamic and powerful duo combined to average 138.5 yards rushing during the regular season while Washington was among the worst against the run, allowing an average of 137.5 yards per game on the ground \u2014 30th in the league.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

DETROIT (AP) \u2014 The Detroit Lions are riding high, elevated to a status they\u2019ve never had as Super Bowl favorites. Detroit\u00a0will host the\u00a0Washington Commanders\u00a0on Saturday night in the\u00a0division\u2026<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":10830,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-10829","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-detroit-lions"],"yoast_head":"\nBREAKING NEWS: Lions ready to show true grit Saturday vs. Commanders - Breaking News<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/?p=10829\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"BREAKING NEWS: Lions ready to show true grit Saturday vs. Commanders - Breaking News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"DETROIT (AP) \u2014 The Detroit Lions are riding high, elevated to a status they\u2019ve never had as Super Bowl favorites. 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