Two of the most intriguing teams to watch will match up on Saturday Night in the Motor City as the Washington Commanders take on the Detroit Lions. After earning a bye week as the #1 seed, Detroit will face a young and fiery Commanders team after their recent victory in Tampa Bay.
My initial comparison between these two teams is that the Commanders are last year's Lions. The Lions really broke out last season and became one of the most high-profile and interesting teams to watch. After a 12 win season and their first playoff victory since the 1990s, the Commanders had an eerily similar occurrence.
For me, during last year's postseason, the Lions were the most fun team to watch, while this year it is the Commanders in that position. Jayden Daniels has completely turned the franchise around. After suffering 13 losses last season, the Commanders have now totaled 13 wins this season (includes their win over Tampa Bay last week).
I am expecting an offensive showdown and a potential shootout tomorrow night. The over/under is set at a very high number of 55.5. Both of these clubs ranked top 7 in offense and top 5 in scoring offense as well. Both teams specialized in their rushing attack as they both averaged nearly 150 rushing yards per game.
Washington and Detroit were lead by two-headed monsters on the ground game. For the Commanders, it was Jayden Daniels and Brian Robinson. For the Lions, it was Jahmyr Gibbs and David Montgomery.
Speaking of David Montgomery, he is back and healthy for the divisional round. After Gibbs filled his role perfectly as the sole back for the last couple of weeks of the regular season, Montgomery is back and ready to go.
Both the Commanders and the Lions are on fire right now. Washington will come into Ford Field after winning their last six games in a row, and Detroit closed out their regular season on a three-game winning streak as well.
It has been a remarkable turn around for the Commanders in 2024. In year one under both Dan Quinn and Jayden Daniels, they were literally and physically able to turn the script on the outlook of their franchise. Previously, Washington had been the doormat of the NFL, but now it looks like they can be a legitimate team for the foreseeable future.
As I stated before, Detroit is a similar story as well. After literally being the laughing stock of the NFL, the Lions ended their playoff win drought last year and racked up 15 wins this season. There were seasons for Detroit where just 1 win was hard to come by, now one loss is hard to come by and Lions fans are in heaven.
That being said, only one team can move on. I really like both of these teams and I do a see a world where the Commanders can come into Ford Field and defeat the Lions. But, that won't happen this Saturday Night as the Lions will advance to their second consecutive NFC Championship, but this time they have home field.
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