The Detroit Lions earned a bye for the first round of the playoffs by clinching the No. 1 seed last week, so Detroit will be enjoying Wild Card Weekend from the comfort of home.
Depending on what happens on Sunday, the Lions may not know their divisional round opponent until Monday night. Of course, the Lions will square off against the lowest-remaining seed after the wild-card games are complete.
The first game the Lions will be watching closely is the contest between the Green Bay Packers and Philadelphia Eagles, which will take place on Sunday at 4:30 p.m. ET. The Eagles are the No. 2 seed while the Packers are the No. 7.
The next wild-card game on the docket will pit the Tampa Bay Buccaneers versus the Washington Commanders, which will kick off at 8 p.m. ET on Sunday. The Bucs are the home team and No. 3 seed, and the Commanders are the No. 6.
If the Eagles and Bucs both win their games, the Lions will face the winner of the Los Angeles Rams versus Minnesota Vikings game. The Rams are the No. 4 seed and the Vikings are the No. 5.
If the Eagles lose, the Lions would square off against the Packers. If the Bucs lose and the Eagles win, Detroit will draw the Commanders next week.
Lions’ possible divisional round opponents
So, the Lions have four possible opponents for the divisional round, a list that includes the Rams, Vikings, Commanders and Packers. Detroit cannot meet the Eagles or Buccaneers under any circumstances. Here’s the scenarios:
Eagles lose: Lions vs. Packers
Bucs lose, Eagles win: Lions vs. Commanders
Bucs win and Eagles win: Lions vs. Vikings or Rams
Of the Lions’ four possible opponents, the only one they haven’t faced this season is the Commanders. The Bucs accounted for one of Detroit’s two losses this year, which came in Week 2. The Lions defeated the Vikings twice and beat the Rams back in Week 1.
There will obviously be plenty of excitement no matter who the Lions draw, but there will no doubt be a little extra juice for a game against the Rams.
On top of the Matthew Stafford-Jared Goff connection between the two teams, the Rams are using Lions head coach Dan Campbell’s message to Vikings head coach Kevin O’Connell as motivation ahead of their game against Minnesota.
While meeting O’Connell in the middle of the field following the Lions’ Week 18 win over the Vikings, Campbell told O’Connell that he would “see you in two weeks,” which suggests Campbell expects the Vikings to win.
Per Jourdan Rodrigue of The Athletic, the Rams hung a screen shot of Campbell’s message to O’Connell in their locker room to serve as motivation. That will no doubt be a storyline if the Rams and Lions meet next week.
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