DETROIT — Matthew Stafford waited for his opportunity, like the many he had capitalized on in Ford Field when he was a member of the Detroit Lions. Now the Rams’ quarterback, Stafford waited and hoped for his defense to get a stop, and give him a chance to drive down in the fourth quarter.
But the moment never came. Instead, Detroit’s ultra-aggressive coach Dan Campbell opted to pass the ball on 2nd-and-9 after the two-minute warning. And former Rams quarterback Jared Goff found Amon-Ra St. Brown for the first-down conversion.
The Rams could only call their final timeout and watch as the Lions took three knees and ran out the clock on the Rams’ season, ending with a 24-23 defeat in the wild-card round of the playoffs.
The Lions controlled much of the game.
With a 10-yard run by David Montgomery on the first play of the game, the Lions proved they were ready to dominate the line of scrimmage. They easily moved down the field, the drive ending in a Montgomery touchdown run. When the Rams stalled at the goal line on the subsequent drive with three pass plays, the crowd could smell blood in the water.
And why not, with the way the Lions’ offensive line was controlling the game?
It took 179 yards of total offense before the Lions faced a third down, and Goff easily converted to St. Brown. Goff completed his first 10 attempts. And through 26 snaps, the Rams defense allowed 16 first downs and three touchdowns, each big gain amping up the volatile Ford Field crowd.
But the Rams stayed in the game thanks to two big-time conversions.
Facing 3rd-and-15, Stafford threw a rope to Demarcus Robinson for a 19-yard gain. Three plays later, Puka Nacua went in motion and ran past his man. Stafford hit him in stride, and the rookie receiver sidestepped the last line of the Lions’ defense to reach the end zone and momentarily silence the crowd.
The next drive, facing 4th-and-5 from the Lions 44, head coach Sean McVay opted to go for it. If the defense can’t stop the Lions, then who cares about a short field, right? The gamble paid off. Stafford converted to Cooper Kupp, then on the next play hit Tutu Atwell for a 38-yard score. The speedy receiver was so alone after his defender dove to try to tip the pass, he was able to flip into the end zone.
After linebacker Ernest Jones got away with a neutral zone infraction that was instead called a false start on Detroit on fourth down, the Rams had a chance to add some points before the half with all three timeouts and 57 seconds left. But McVay opted to run out the clock rather than run the two-minute drill.
As the second half wore on, the punishment of playoff football began to take its toll on the Rams. Stafford, Nacua and running back Kyren Williams all were examined in the injury tent after vicious hits.
Stafford in particular seemed rattled late in the third quarter after a hit in which his helmet slammed into the turf and Lions defensive end Aidan Hutchinson inadvertently stepped on his shoulder. Stafford hobbled off the field, blood on his throwing hand and holding his throwing shoulder.
But he, Nacua and Williams were all on the field for the next drive. Williams kicked it off with a 15-yard carry and added another 12-yarder. Stafford went 4-for-6 on the sequence, finding Nacua on a screen to pass to convert a third down and on a crossing route to get into the red zone.
But for the third time in three trips to the red zone, the Rams stalled and settled for a field goal that cut the Lions’ lead to one with 8:10 to play.