The Detroit Lions hosted the Washington Commanders in the divisional round of the 2024 playoffs. Both teams finished top five in scoring offense, so many people expected a shootout. Both teams are also known for being aggressive when it comes to fourth down situations.
David Montgomery was back for the Lions after missing the last three games of the season due to a knee injury. Terrion Arnold, who left the regular season finale due to a foot injury, was active as well. They were without offensive guard Kevin Zietler, so Christian Mahogany got the start.
Despite dealing with an ankle injury, linebacker Bobby Wagner was ruled active to play. This was his first appearance in the divisional round since 2019 when he was with the Seahawks. This was also the first divisional round appearance for the Commanders since 2005.
The Lions got the ball first with excellent field position after the football was kicked out of bounds. But they would go three and out after losing yardage. The Commanders got the ball and wasted no time moving down the field. Jayden Daniels found Austin Ekeler for a 24-yard gain to put them in Lions territory.
They faced a fourth down at the 29-yard line, and it was no surprise that they were going for it. But the defense would get the stop after the quarterback sneak was unsuccessful. The Lions took over and they got four consecutive first downs to get them in the red zone. Goff handed it off to Gibbs and he ran it in for the touchdown.
Washington tried to answer back, but had to settle for three after three straight incompletions. The Lions quickly got into their opponent’s territory after a 33-yard run by Gibbs. They got in the red zone, but Frankie Luvu forced the fumble which was returned for five yards. The Commanders capitalized by scoring a touchdown to give them their first lead of the game.
Detroit got the ball and immediately got into Commanders territory after Goff found St. Brown for a 34-yard gain. They got in the red zone, and Goff found Sam LaPorta in the end zone for the touchdown to retake the lead. Then it became a shootout as Daniels found Terry McCluarin for a 59-yard touchdown to snatch the lead back.
The Lions tried to answer, but Goff was intercepted by safety Quan Martin. The interception was returned for a 40-yard touchdown, increasing the lead to 10. Goff would not be on the field for the next offensive drive after taking a hard hit. Teddy Bridgewater came in for the drive. The Lions answered with a 60-yard rushing touchdown by Jameson Williams.
While the offense was able to bounce back from their mistakes by putting points on the board, the defense could not stop anything. Throughout the regular season, the Commanders have had games where they did not punt the ball at all. Even in the Wild Card round against Tampa Bay, they never had to punt.
Daniels found tight end Zach Ertz in the end zone for the touchdown, and it was a two-possession game again. Detroit got the ball back with a chance to score before the half. They quickly got into Washington territory, but the drive ended after Goff was intercepted for the second time.
The Commanders got the ball to start the second half. In a shocking twist, they were forced to punt after a three and out. It was the first time the defense got a stop since the first quarter when they stopped them on fourth down. The offense took advantage of the golden opportunity and scored a touchdown.
It felt like the momentum was swinging back in favor of Detroit after the touchdown. But that feeling ended quickly after the Commanders marched down the field and scored a touchdown. They converted on fourth down twice, with one of those being an automatic first down after the Lions were penalized for having too many men on the field.
The offense once again stalled after a flea flicker attempt led to another interception. Self-inflicting wounds on both sides of the ball proved to be very costly as the Commanders scored another touchdown to increase their lead to 17, which was the largest lead of the game. With time not on their side, the Lions had to answer quickly.
They got into Washington territory, but decided to settle for the field goal after failing to convert on third down. Many were surprised at the decision not to go for it on fourth down, but it seems that Dan Campbell wanted to take whatever points he could get. They attempted the onside kick, but it was recovered by Ertz.
It was recovered at the 40-yard line, so it took no time for them to get into Detroit territory. They had another fourth down, but decided to take the three points. The kick was no good, and the Lions took over at their own 34-yard line. Once again, they had to go quick due to time not being on their side.
They got in the red zone after two successful fourth down conversions. But the drive ended after Goff was picked off for a third time in the end zone. Jayden Daniels kneeled it out, and that was the game. The Commanders pulled off the biggest upset of the postseason, defeating the Lions 45-31. They will advance to the NFC Championship game for the first time since 1992.
This is the first time in franchise history that the Commanders have won multiple road playoff games in a single postseason. They will take on the Philadelphia Eagles in the conference championship game.
Jayden Daniels finished with 22 completions out of 31 attempts for 299 yards and two touchdowns. He also rushed for 51 yards. He is the sixth rookie quarterback since 2000 to lead his team to a conference championship game. He joins Joe Flacco as the only two rookie quarterbacks to beat a number one seed in the playoffs.