The Detroit Lions and the San Francisco 49ers, two teams with vastly different histories of playoff success, will meet in the NFC Championship next Sunday at Levi’s Stadium.
The Lions (14-5) advanced to their first NFC title game since 1991 after beating the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, 31-23, on Sunday. The 49ers (13-5) did their part on Saturday, coming from behind in the fourth quarter to turn back the Green Bay Packers, 24-21.
For the 49ers, the NFC’s No. 1 team, it will be their third straight appearance in the conference championship game and their NFL-record 19th overall.
The two franchises haven’t played each other much in recent years. The last meeting was in 2021, a game that the 49ers won 41-33. But they’ve only played twice since 2015.
The game will feature a unique quarterback battle featuring a former No. 1 overall draft pick (Detroit’s Jared Goff) going against a former “Mr. Irrelevant” as the final pick in the draft (San Francisco’s Brock Purdy).
Here are the top three storylines for the NFC Championship Game, with the 49ers entering the game as early 6.5-point favorites.
Related: Detroit Lions headed to NFC Championship Game: NFL world reacts to huge win
The health status of San Francisco 49ers star Deebo Samuel
The San Francisco 49ers might have to play without Deebo Samuel, who left Saturday’s game in the first quarter with a shoulder injury.
Samuel, who scored 12 touchdowns this season, was injured on the 49ers’ first drive, when he was tackled on a nine-yard pass play, and he never returned to the game.
Shanahan likened it to the shoulder injury Samuel suffered earlier in the season, when the receiver missed two games. And the 49ers lost both games, to Cincinnati and Minnesota, and were limited to 17 points in each game. In fact, the 49ers are 0-3 in games Samuel didn’t finish this season and 8-9 all-time without him in the lineup.
On the surface playing without Samuel might be seem like much given the 49ers’ depth of offensive talent beyond Samuel, with Christian McCaffrey, George Kittle and Brandon Aiyuk. Yet losing Deebo, one of the NFL’s most unique offensive talents, has a limiting effect on the 49ers and allows teams to focus more on McCaffrey.
The 49ers were able to survive Green Bay, thanks to the excellence of quarterback Brock Purdy on the game-winning drive. But they will be challenged to do the same against the Lions without Samuel in the lineup.
A homecoming for Detroit Lions QB Jared Goff
Detroit Lions quarterback Jared Goff might feel right at home next Sunday. That’s because he grew up in Novato, Calif., 70 miles away from Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, where he was a fan of the San Francisco 49ers. He even wears No. 16 as a tribute to 49ers great Joe Montana.
Before coming the No. 1 overall pick of the Los Angeles Rams in 2016, Goff starred first at Marin Catholic High School and then at nearby Cal, where he set Pac-12 single-season records for passing yards and TD passes.
Goff is playing the best football of his life as he tries to guide the Detroit Lions to the franchise’s first-ever Super Bowl appearance. If he does it, there might not be a more heart-warming storyline than this one.
Can the Detroit Lions make history?
The Detroit Lions haven’t won an NFL championship since 1957, less than 10 years before the Super Bowl came into existence. And it’s been noted how the Lions are the only NFC franchise to never make it beyond the conference championship, which they have reached on only one occasion (1991).
Yet with head coach Dan Campbell at the helm, the Lions are the brink of going from the proverbial outhouse to the penthouse, making an amazing transformation from a longtime downtrodden team into a champion.
Only two seasons ago, the Lions were 3-13-1. They improved to 9-8 last season, just missing out on the playoffs, before going 12-5 this season to win their first division title since 1991.
To make the transformation complete, all the Lions need to do is beat the 49ers, a five-time Super Bowl champion. Doing so would continue one of the best turnaround stories in recent memory.