After winning first place in the NFC and getting a bye week in the Wild Card round of the 2024-25 NFL playoffs, the Detroit Lions were able to take some much-needed rest while awaiting their opponent in the round. of division. As the lowest seed in the NFC coming out of the Wild Card round, the Washington Commanders will travel to Detroit on Saturday at 8 p.m. ET to take on the Lions.
With time and adversaries established, the people of FanDuel Sports Betting having set the opening betting line at Lions -8.5 points. The number initially opened at the Lions -7.5 points, but within the first few minutes the number was quickly adjusted and landed at the current number.
The Commanders won their final five games of the regular season, beating the Titans, Saints, Eagles, Falcons and Cowboys, then advanced to the first round of the playoffs by beating the No. 3 seed, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, 23-20. field goal kick that bounced off the upright and through the posts.
Ironically, the successful kick was made by Zane Gonzalez, who was on the Lions roster (and practice squad) in 2021. He saw no game action in Detroit and was poached from the Lions practice squad at the start of the season.
But the crossover storylines don’t stop there.
The biggest storyline will involve the Commanders pursuing Lions offensive coordinator Ben Johnson to become their next head coach and then leaking negative things about him after he chose to stay in Detroit.
There’s also the fact that Washington’s last playoff win was when Mark Brunell was their quarterback, and he’s now the Lions’ quarterback coach. Equally unique is the fact that Washington’s current quarterback coach is former Lions quarterback David Blough. Additionally, the Commanders hired Lance Newmark away from the Lions front office to become their assistant general manager and then signed Anthony Pittman this past offseason, but Pittman has since joined the Lions less than a month ago. Going even further, the Commanders’ starting tight end is Zach Ertz, who was on the Lions’ practice squad for the playoffs last season but never acclimated enough to contribute. And the list goes on.
As for the game itself, both teams rely on their offenses to win, and while the Lions will hold most of the advantage on paper, Commanders rookie quarterback Jayden Daniels is the difference maker. He’s been electric this season, both throwing the ball with accuracy and racking up yardage on the ground with his mobility. Working to contain Daniels and limit his ability to make explosive plays will be a difficult task for the Lions defense.
On offense, the Lions should have multiple advantages, the biggest being their ability to establish an effective rushing attack. And while the Lions will bring back David Montgomery for this game to further facilitate this method of attack, it’s the Lions’ balance in terms of offense and their ability to play at all levels of the field that makes them so dangerous .
