The Detroit Lions advanced to the NFC Conference Championship game this past Sunday and will face the San Francisco 49ers at Levi Stadium this Sunday at 4:30 p.m. MST for the second time in the team’s history.
The matchup will be their most difficult yet, with the 49ers holding the advantage historically. Both teams ended the season at 12-5, while both offenses come in with the number two and three overall. The Lions haven’t been in the playoffs since the 2016 season when they entered as a wildcard, then losing to the Seattle Seahawks 26-6.
This year feels much different and despite both teams faring well in the regular season with matching wins, the Lions feel more like a Cinderella story, having entered the league in 1930 (then named the Portsmouth Spartans). In 1933 the team moved to Detroit where they changed the name to the Lions.
For years, their own fans viewed the Lions as the laughing stock of the league, going as far as donning paper bags over their heads at games. Despite their struggles over the years, the Lions drafted one of, if not the best running back of all time in Barry Sanders. Pro Football Hall of Famer, Barry Sanders brought a ton of joy to the Detroit City despite only getting to the conference championship one time (1991 Vs. the Washington Redskins) with the Lions.
The Lions are underdogs in Sunday’s game, however; if you ask any Detroit fan if they felt their team was at a disadvantage you’ll likely get a response that addresses the lack of playoff appearances and playoff drought they’ve experienced as fans and that they’ve been the underdog all season.
The AFC Conference Championship will feature the Kansas City Chiefs and the Baltimore Ravens.
The Chiefs did the unthinkable, when they went into Buffalo New York to face the Bills on Sunday night and walked out with the W.
The Baltimore Ravens on the other hand have been dominating teams since the end of the regular season including a dominating win over the Houston Texans on Saturday where they defeated Houston 34-10.
The Kansas City Chiefs have their hands full in the AFC Conference Championship with the Ravens and the defending Super Bowl Champs are slight underdogs head- ing into Sunday’s game (1 p.m. MST at M&T Bank Stadium in Baltimore).
In other sports the Colorado Avalanche defeated the Philadelphia Flyers in their last game of a five game road stretch that begin in Toronto last Saturday. The Avalanche went 3-2 on that road stretch losing to the Boston Bruins and the Montreal Canadiens. Colorado is back at Ball Arena this week to host the Washington Capitals, and L.A. Kings before their next five game road stretch the kicks off in New York next Monday.
Nathan MacKinnon took the lead in points with 77, a single point over the previous point leader Nikita Kucherov of the Tampa Bay Lightning. MacKinnon ended the Philly game with four points, 2 goals and 2 assists.
The Denver Nuggets have won their last two games after falling to the Philadelphia 76ers last Tuesday in Philly. The Nuggets held off the Celtics in Boston Friday night before heading to Washington to beat the Wizzards 113-104. This week the Nuggets are in Indiana to face the Pacers before heading to New York to face the Knicks.
