5 winners, losers from Lions' 24-23 win vs. Rams in NFC wild card

The Lions will be enjoying mom's spaghetti for dinner.

No. 3-seeded Detroit on Sunday Night Football beat the No. 6 Los Angeles Rams 24-23 in a battle between Matthew Stafford and Jared Goff.

The first half was electric as Detroit took a 21-17 lead into the interval. But the second half only featured three field goals as Los Angeles couldn't capitalize in Detroit territory.

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With the result, the Lions will host another playoff game in the divisional round. They will meet either the No. 4 Tampa Bay Buccaneers or No. 5 Philadelphia Eagles. The Rams have been eliminated after a stellar run to end the season.

Let's analyze the game further with five winners and losers:

WINNER: Jared Goff, Lions

Someone needed to prove their old team wrong. The moment belonged to Goff, who definitely assembled a valiant performance.

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Tears in the Detroit crowd. What a moment. pic.twitter.com/mmzgdwHu2b

— NFL (@NFL) January 15, 2024

He completed 22 of 27 passes for 277 yards, one touchdown and no picks while being composed throughout, minus some small shaky plays. He also got help on the ground, with David Montgomery rushing for 57 yards on 14 carries and a touchdown and Jahmyr Gibbs adding 25 yards on eight carries and a score.

The Lions' hopes will lie on Goff playing like this the rest of the way and eliminating mistakes. He'll need to keep it going after passing the first test.

LOSER: Matthew Stafford, Rams

Unfortunately, Stafford fell on the other end of the spectrum. The signal caller in Detroit from 2009 to 2020 returned to Ford Field for the first time since his trade to L.A. and delivered throughout. He completed 25 of 36 passes for 367 yards, two touchdowns and no picks.

Stafford, who turns 36 in February, will be back in Detroit next season since the Lions will host the Rams at some point during the regular season. He'll look to get revenge in that one.

WINNER: Young wideouts

Houston Texans' C.J. Stroud and Green Bay Packers' Jordan Love have dominated headlines for impressive rookie playoff performances under center, and the same should apply to the star wideout Nacua. Nacua, who broke the NFL rookie receiving record, could not be stopped in a game where conditions swung in his favor.

Detroit's secondary ranked below average in several important statistics throughout the regular season, so it wasn't surprising to see Stafford and Nacua combine so effortlessly. Nacua logged nine catches for 181 yards and one touchdown. Cooper Kupp doesn't have to do much now with Nacua solidifying himself as the new WR1.

But Amon-Ra St. Brown was the victor, and the 24-year-old caught seven passes for 110 yards, with a long of 30. Somehow he wasn't selected to the Pro Bowl, but he's been one of the best parts of Detroit's campaign.

LOSER: Second-half showings

The Lions completely tailed off in the second half. Credit should go to Rams defensive coordinator Raheem Morris -- he's a potential head-coaching candidate next season for a reason -- but Detroit didn't do itself any favors. Both Goff and the run game just couldn't get going, even though Goff got it done in the very last drive.

Detroit has to be fortunate that the Rams didn't punish them when they got in the red zone, otherwise this could've been a different story. Head coach Dan Campbell and Co. will need to study and tape and prevent that from happening next time out.

WINNER: Playoff droughts

The Lions won their first playoff game in 32 years, which came in 1991 when they beat the Dallas Cowboys 38-6. Until then, they had lost nine straight playoff games but now get to host two in a row after beating the Rams in thrilling fashion.

Detroit also won its first NFC North title this season, so the record-breaking moments keep coming. And it's definitely been a long time coming.