DETROIT — The opening notes of “Put On” by Young Jeezy boomed through the loudspeaker at Ford Field as the Detroit Lions took the field for the opening kick. They had won the opening coin toss and decided to take the ball first against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in the divisional round of the NFC Playoffs.
“I put on for my city…”
The overwhelmingly Honolulu Blue crowd raised white towels and spun them in the air.
“On, on for my city…”
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The noise crescendoed as the decibel levels on the jumbotron climbed. Lions players lined the sideline, some jumping up and down ready to burst with energy, some solemn and intense, unwaveringly fixated on the field.
“I put on…”
The special-teams unit made a perfect line with Jack Fox setting up the ball dead-center. Fans continued to yell as if they were going into battle, waving their towels as if they were brandishing weapons.
The music cut off, the stadium was silent for a split second and then Fox made contact with the ball as the entire stadium was swallowed by sound again.
This is the football Detroit deserves.
Three years ago to the day, head coach Dan Campbell talked about building a team that would get back up if you knocked them down… and bite kneecaps on their way there. The Lions have now won their second home playoff game at Ford Field this season, fulfilling promises made three years ago.
They downed the Buccaneers 31-23 in an absolute dogfight.
Center Frank Ragnow, already battling through various ailments, was injured in the first half when Bucs rookie defensive tackle Calijah Kancey tackled quarterback Jared Goff right onto the back of Ragnow’s legs. Ragnow still finished the game.
‘He’s the best center in football’ — Lions’ Taylor Decker gets emotional when talking about Frank Ragnow
The Bucs’ defense frustrated the Lions and their plethora of offensive playmakers, particularly in the first half. At halftime, running back David Montgomery had just 13 yards on five carries. Jahmyr Gibbs had just 17 yards on four. Wide receiver Amon-Ra St. Brown had just three catches on seven targets for 18 yards.
Yet, the Lions muscled themselves to the end zone, anyway. The touchdown came on a catch by Josh Reynolds, his first of the night in the second quarter. Detroit was always going to figure out a way.
Meanwhile, the defense played inspired in the first half, too. They sacked Tampa Bay quarterback Baker Mayfield twice. They picked him off after the first one thanks to a deflected pass landing right in the lap of CJ Gardner-Johnson. Rookie Brian Branch had the team’s second sack, along with six combined tackles and one tackle for loss, in the first half alone.
Branch finished the day with nine combined tackles and two for loss to go with that first-half sack. It took until the third quarter for a front-seven player to take Mayfield down. That was (who else) Aidan Hutchinson, who registered his fourth straight game with at least one sack.
Jared Goff, Lions hold off Baker Mayfield, Buccaneers
The offense opened up in the fourth quarter. The usual suspects finally found the ball coming their way. St. Brown ended the day with eight receptions for 77 yards and the touchdown that broke the game open, putting the Lions up 31-17 in the fourth quarter.
This was the drive after Gibbs finally found the end zone on a 31-yard scamper to give the Lions back the lead. The touchdown before that? It had come the hard way thanks to a one-yard rush by running back Craig Reynolds. It was three straight scores after possessions that were meant to break Detroit in the previous quarters.
None of it came easy for the Lions, but they got it done, anyway.
All throughout Ford Field and emblazoned on the players and fans themselves, you’ll see the word ‘grit’. It’s been a mantra for the Lions all season, but it isn’t original. It comes from the city they ‘put on’ for. A city that has lived and died with this Lions team for decades, with nothing but heartbreak to show for it.
Yet, fans kept showing up. Both at Ford Field and on the road. The team knows how much they mean to Detroit, and Detroit means everything to them right back.
“It’s not the first thing you think of if you go to LA,” said Campbell after the game. “You’ve got the sun, you’ve got the beach, you’ve got plenty of other things going and here, man… it’s harsh winters, right? Auto industry. Blue collar. Things aren’t always easy and I just think that’s what we’re about.
“You want something the city can be proud of. You can look at those guys and say, ‘I can back that guy, I can back that team, I can resonate with those group of guys.’ They’re kinda salty. They don’t quit. They play hard … I think these guys, they have a kinship with this city and with this area.”
The home games in Detroit are over for this season. The Lions will head to San Francisco for the NFC Championship Game in Santa Clara (next Sunday at 6:30 p.m. ET on FOX and the FOX Sports app). Beyond that, if they’re allowed to think that far, they’ll go onto Vegas.
But this team and these players will take the city of Detroit with them, however far they go, because this team not only represents the city, it embodies it.
Carmen Vitali covers the NFC North for FOX Sports. Carmen had previous stops with The Draft Network and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. She spent six seasons with the Bucs, including 2020, which added the title of Super Bowl Champion (and boat-parade participant) to her résumé. You can follow Carmen on Twitter at @CarmieV.
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