The Detroit Lions might play in the Super Bowl.
This isn’t satire. This also isn’t some pipe dream dreamt by the most unrealistically optimistic and biased Lions fan.
No. The Detroit Lions might actually be playing in the Super Bowl.
It would be something no one on planet Earth, past or present, has witnessed. That’s because it’s never happened. Not once.
But that can all change on Sunday night in Santa Clara, California, where the No. 3 seed Detroit Lions will take on the top-seeded San Francisco 49ers in the NFC Championship game.
The winner will advance to, you guessed it, the Super Bowl.
As evidenced by the nation-wide watch parties, the top-tier commercials that cost millions of dollars to air and the heavy celebrity attendance, the Super Bowl is a big deal, regardless of who’s playing.
Petitions have actually been created to make the Monday after the Super Bowl a national holiday — it’s that big of a deal. Parties, wings, chips, dip, beer, betting — it screams America.
But Sunday’s matchup between the Lions and 49ers will feature two teams whose fanbases simply aren’t comparable when it comes to how significant an appearance in sports’ biggest, most important game would be.
San Francisco has been to the Super Bowl seven times. That’s not to say fans wouldn’t be ecstatic with an eighth appearance — especially given the game will take place at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas, a less-than-600-mile trek from northern California — but it’s just not the same as it would be for Detroiters.
The Niners have also played in two of the last 11 Super Bowls. Granted, they lost both times.
But Detroit needs this.
The Lions have never been to a Super Bowl. It’s been well documented. This is only the team’s second chance to play for a shot at the big game. This has also been widely discussed.
It’s a storied franchise built on winners like Joe Montana, Jerry Rice and Steve Young up against a historically lowly, inept franchise built on decades of heartbreaking loss and failure.
Detroit needs this one. It would change the culture, and it would get the never-been-to-a-Super-Bowl monkey off the franchise’s back.
Now, from a strictly football perspective, is San Francisco the better team? Yeah, probably. The 49ers are the higher seed, they’ll have the best player in the stadium in Christian McCaffrey and from top to bottom, their roster is seemingly better than Detroit’s.
But on Sunday night, with a trip to the Super Bowl on the line, not much of that will matter.
As evidenced by the Green Bay Packers’ drubbing of the Dallas Cowboys in the Wild Card round, seeding certainly doesn’t mean anything other than the fact that it determines where the games are played.
And best-player-on-the-field Patrick Mahomes couldn’t hero ball his way to a victory over the Lions in the season opener.
Anything can happen on Sunday night. The team needs this game. The city needs it.
There have been numerous personal stories from fans explaining just how much this playoff run has meant to them. Whether it’s an intimate moment witnessing a victory with a loved family member or a moment a fan has dreamed of their entire life, this playoff run has transcended the confines of sports.
It’s a way of life.
And on Sunday night, 60 minutes determine the fate of the team, the fans and the city.
Sixty minutes.
Jumarion C. • Jan 29, 2024 at 1:30 AM
So…now that Campbell threw the game against the 49ers, what are the OU Post’s thoughts on the state of the NFL?
Because a high school coach would have known to take the field goal points rather than try to convert 4th downs against the 49er defense, especially in a playoff game!
Obvious fixing and corruption in the NFL.