The Detroit Lions' first home playoff game in three decades and first-ever at Ford Field was a huge success this past Sunday night as they beat the Rams 24-23 to advance to the Divisional Round. Had Dallas not been upset by Green Bay, the Lions would have gone to AT&T Stadium for the Divisional Round, but instead will host Tampa Bay on Sunday. Lions quarterback Jared Goff is the +425 favorite at FanDuel to throw for the most yards of any QB this round, as well as the +170 leader to throw for the most yards in the entire postseason.
Against his former Rams team, Goff threw for 277 yards to lead Detroit to its first home playoff win since 1991. Goff did most of his damage in the first half (at the end of the first quarter, Goff was 9-for-9 for 111 yards) as the Lions led 21-17 at the break and went cold on offense in the second half. He became just the fourth Lions QB since 1950 to win a playoff game, joining Bobby Layne (three), Tobin Rote (two) and Erik Kramer (one) and was greeted with chants of his name by the Lions faithful.
The home chants were the icing on the cake, as Goff said he had never "experienced anything like that." He said he was "grateful for their support and today with the circumstances that were there, it meant a lot. It was special."
The Lions will now host multiple playoff games in a single postseason for the first time in franchise history. Up next is a matchup of No. 1 overall picks in Goff vs. the Buccaneers' Baker Mayfield. They are the fourth and fifth quarterbacks drafted No. 1 overall to win a playoff game for multiple teams and the only ones to accomplish the feat before age 30.
If you're betting on a player to lead a postseason in something like passing yards, obviously you need to project that player is going deep into the playoffs. The passing yardage leaders so far are the Cowboys' Dak Prescott (403), Rams' Matthew Stafford (367), Bucs' Mayfield (337), Browns' Joe Flacco (307) and Goff. Prescott, Stafford and Flacco are now sitting at home.
Detroit is a 6.5-point home favorite Sunday, so there's a good chance that Goff will play in the NFC title game and have a minimum of three playoff games and max of four to rack up the yardage, compared to a maximum of three for 49ers quarterback Brock Purdy (+360 second favorite) to top the postseason leaderboard. Purdy's 49ers got the first-round bye.
For the most yards in the Divisional Round, Goff is barely ahead of Purdy (+450) vs. Green Bay and Houston rookie CJ Stroud (+450) vs. Baltimore. Tampa Bay was near the bottom of the NFL in passing defense during the regular season, allowing 248.9 yards per game. The Eagles managed 234 in Monday's loss in Tampa.
Goff is set with the highest over/under yardage total this weekend at 270.5. The SportsLine Projection Model forecasts him to throw for 274 yards. In Week 6 when Detroit won 20-6 in Tampa, Goff totaled 353 yards. Mayfield is +700 to throw for the most yards this weekend and the model projects him for 276 yards.
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