NFL: Detroit Lions roar into shot at Super Bowl ticket

defeating the Tampa Bay Buccaneers 31-23.

Jared Goff threw for 287 yards and two touchdowns,

while Jahmyr Gibbs rushed for 74 yards and a touchdown as the Lions,

who have never played in a Super Bowl,

advanced to the NFC Championship game against the San Francisco 49ers next Sunday.

Ford Field was lit up before kickoff, and the mood was amplified

when Baker Mayfield threw an interception into the arms of CJ Gardner-Johnson on the Bucs’ first drive.

The two teams traded field goals until Detroit took off behind rookie tight end Sam LaPorta,

who had three consecutive catches of 13, two,

and 15 yards to propel them upfield before Goff delivered a nine-yard touchdown pass to Josh Reynolds.

Tampa Bay replied late in the half, with Mayfield hitting Mike Evans from 29 yards to drive

the Bucs to the two-yard line and then passing to Cade Otton for a touchdown.

With 3:51 left in the third quarter, Detroit went for it fourth down from a yard out,

with Craig Reynolds powering through,

but Tampa Bay responded at the conclusion of the quarter as an off-balance.

The see-saw continued when Gibbs ran in from 31 yards to put Detroit back up,

and they finally broke the trend when Tampa Bay was forced to

punt and Goff connected with Amon-Ra St Brown for a perfect nine-yard touchdown ball.

The Bucs weren’t done yet; Evans caught a 16-yard touchdown pass,

and they had the ball back inside the final two minutes,

only for Mayfield to be intercepted by Derrick Barnes, sparking wild celebrations in Detroit.

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