Lions finally giving fans, including Eminem, chance to cheer for a winner
NFL PLAYOFFS
NFC DIVISIONAL ROUND reaching the Super Bowl for the first time.
While there are scores of long-suffering fans in the Motor City, it has also attracted some new ones and engaged with them in the digital age.
Sweta Patel, who was born in India and lives in suburban Detroit, didn’t know what a first down was about a decade ago. The 41-year-old Patel has developed her knowledge of the game and affinity for the organization thanks to some interactions on social media and in person as a seasonticket holder.
When she posted on social media about having knee surgery, Lions players wished her a speedy recovery. When Patel shared that she had a miscarriage in 2021, she heard from Campbell himself shortly after he was hired.
“He’s just a man of the people,” she said. “His voice was almost cracking in that video, and it just really brought some comfort to me.”
Mike McCord and millions more in Michigan have waited a long time for their favorite team to bring them joy.
The 68-year-old McCord was a toddler when his late father, Darris, a Pro Bowl defensive lineman, helped Detroit beat Cleveland at Briggs Stadium, which was later known as Tiger Stadium, for the NFL title in 1957.
After losing in the NFC title game the past two seasons, the 49ers came into 2023 looking to get over that hump and back to the Super Bowl. But first they had to get through the regular season, which they did with 12 wins and a firstround bye.
Now the focus can really turn to getting rid of the bad taste from those season-ending losses.
“We’re excited,” All-Pro left tackle Trent Williams said. “This is what you wait all year for, especially after the way last year ended. The regular season is fun and it has its own challenges. But when you get that close, like we did last year, you just want to fast forward to the regular season and get back to this tournament.”
Green Bay’s Aaron Jones has rushed for more than 110 yards in each of his past four games. He ran for 118 yards and three touchdowns in the Packers’ victory over the Cowboys.
It’s worth noting that Jones has rushed for more than 100 yards every time he’s faced the Cowboys in his career. Jones
Love has thrown 21 touchdown passes with only one interception over his past nine games, and it seems as if a different receiver emerges as his favorite target each week.
The Packers have produced a different 100-yard receiver in each of their past three games. Romeo Doubs had six catches for 151 yards against the Cowboys. Jayden Reed didn’t catch a single pass against Dallas, but he had four receptions for 112 yards when the Packers closed the regular season with a 17-9 victory over the Chicago Bears. One week earlier, Bo Melton caught six passes for 105 yards in a 33-10 triumph at Minnesota.
“You never really know who’s going to have the big game for us in the receiver room,” Love said. “You have plays dialed up for some guys, and other times it’s just kind of the looks we get defensively, who might be catching the ball. But I think the mindset, they all want the ball, they all expect the ball on every play, and that’s what’s helping them be successful.”
Both teams come into the game with rookie kickers in a bit of a rut.
Third-round pick Jake Moody missed his first extra point of the season and a 38-yard field goal in San Francisco’s Week 18 loss to the Rams.
Sixth-round pick Anders Carlson has missed an extra-point attempt in three of the Packers’ past four games. He also missed a 41-yard field goal against Chicago and is just 7 of 13 this season on fieldgoal attempts of at least 40 yards.
“A lot of young (players) — especially kickers —— go through some trials and tribulations, unfortunately,” LaFleur said. “And the one thing that’s been so great that you cannot coach is just the resiliency he’s shown, because every time he misses one, he comes back and he’s made them.”