Lions back in prime time for playoff opener against Los Angeles Rams

DETROIT -- The prime-time babies will be back under the lights for their first home playoff game in 30 years.

The third-seeded Detroit Lions will host the sixth-seeded Los Angeles Rams at 8 p.m. Sunday on NBC/Peacock, marking their sixth prime-time game of the season, a new franchise record. They’ve played especially well in night games lately too, beating the Chiefs, Packers, Raiders and Broncos in prime time before finally dropping a controversial game in Dallas last week. That snapped a five-game winning streak at night overall, also a franchise record.

“I just think it is something that we talk about and prepare for,” Campbell said earlier this season. “We always try to emphasize that you should really live in the moment. You should embrace it. You should enjoy it. It shouldn’t be a stressful situation. It should be one of those that one day you are going to look back and say, ‘Man, that was a special moment. To be able to play under the lights with my teammates, with these guys and get a big win and make some plays out there.’”

Of course, the juicy storylines always made Lions-Rams a perfect candidate to draw a prime-time spot. Matthew Stafford is making his return to Ford Field for the first time since requesting a trade from the team for which he rewrote the record book, while Jared Goff will be squaring off against the head coach that gave up on him, all played in a building that has never hosted a playoff game.

The Lions traded Stafford for Goff and three draft picks, which after some subsequent dealing turned into Jameson Williams, Jahmyr Gibbs, Sam LaPorta and Ifeatu Melifonwu. Throw in the rebirth of Jared Goff, and that trade is the single biggest reason a last-place doormat turned into the champions of the North in just three years.

Detroit is now hosting a postseason game for the first time since losing to the Green Bay Packers at the Pontiac Silverdome in 1993.

“I think we’re ready, man,” quarterback Jared Goff said. “I think Dan said it best at the end there like no one’s been through the kind of adversity this group has been through the last couple of years. We’re ready. Yeah, we’re ready. It feels like we’ve been waiting for quite some time to get these opportunities and they’re here now. Ford Field will be rocking, and it’ll be fun.”