Detroit Lions prepare for NFC Championship game
(CBS DETROIT) - After beating the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Detroit Lions quarterback Jared Goff joined an elite company as one of five quarterbacks in NFL history to lead two different teams to their respective conference championship games.
Goff joins Tom Brady, Peyton Manning, Brett Favre and Kurt Warner.
The NFC Divisional Round contest was methodical, but it was the boys in Honolulu Blue who took over in the fourth quarter to cement their place in the NFC Championship game against the San Francisco 49ers.
"I am just so proud of what we have been able to do," said Lions defensive end Aidan Hutchinson. "The adversity we have been able to overcome, and now we have another obstacle in the way."
The obstacle Hutchinson refers to is the 49ers, but the Lions are ready for their next challenge.
"We are getting over mountains right now," said Hutchinson. "That's what we are doing, just one mountain after another. They said we couldn't win two playoff games in a row, but we are going to keep climbing that mountain and keep moving forward."
"We're going to the NFC Championship game with that group of guys, and they love football," added Lions coach Dan Campbell. "They play football, and that's what they respect, and they respect their teammates and not anything else."
Campbell's message has been to take things one game at a time, but a Super Bowl appearance has never felt more real for the Lions in decades.
If they get past San Francisco, they'll face off against Patrick Mahomes and the Kansas City Chiefs or Lamar Jackson and the Baltimore Ravens.
The Chiefs are no strangers to an AFC Championship Game, let alone the Super Bowl.
Kansas City has played in three of the last four Super Bowls and has won two of them, but let's not forget the Lions left Kansas City with a win during week 1 of this season, 21-20.
On the other hand, the Ravens made quick work of Detroit during week 7, with a 38-6 victory.
The AFC Championship will be played Sunday before the NFC Championship game.
That means the Lions would know who they would face off against in the Super Bowl before their matchup.
That's a side of history their potential opponent would not like to be on, as the Lions are the only NFC team never to have made the Super Bowl.