A trip to Super Bowl 58 awaits the winner of Lions-49ers. Detroit looks to clinch its first Super Bowl berth ever while San Francisco hopes to return for the first time since 2019.
16 teams in the NFC began this season trying to reach this point. Nine of those 16 did not make the playoffs at all. An additional five failed in their quest to get here, including the Rams, Buccaneers, and Packers, the teams the Lions and 49ers took down over the last two weeks. Now, all that stands between these teams and a trip to Las Vegas is one more game.
Detroit is riding high after giving their fans the first two playoff victories, something that many of those fans haven’t experienced before this point in their lives. Dan Campbell has brought Detroit out of the basement in only three seasons, leading the Lions from a woeful 0-10-1 start in 2021 to being one game away from the postseason in 2022 and now just one game away from the Super Bowl.
The last time the Lions were in the NFC Championship, they were taken down by the then-Redskins, who ultimately won Super Bowl 26.
Kyle Shanahan leads the 49ers to their fourth NFC Championship appearance in the past five seasons. (The only time they did not make it was in 2020 when they failed to make the playoffs altogether.) So far, however, Shanahan only converted one appearance into a victory: in 2019 against the same Packers team the 49ers defeated last weekend. Furthermore, it is also the first time the 49ers will host the NFC Championship since that 2019 success.
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Game Info for Lions-49ers
Date: Sunday, Jan. 28, 2023
Start time: 3:30 p.m. PT
Location: Santa Clara, Calif.
Stadium: Levi’s Stadium
TV Info: FOX, FOX Sports
Betting Odds for Lions-49ers
Odds courtesy of DraftKings.
Point Spread: DET +7 (-110), SF -7 (-110)
Moneyline: DET (+260), SF (-350)
Over/Under: O/U 51 (-110)
Detroit enters as a full touchdown underdog.
What To Watch For
The Lions may meet the end of the line for their run through this postseason. They’ve only taken down the 49ers twice in 28 seasons, the last being in 2015, and by most accounts will be outmatched against San Francisco once again. A win in this game and a Super Bowl trip for the Lions might require having to learn from their fellow NFC North rival Packers’ near-upset of these 49ers last weekend.
For the 49ers, a return to the Super Bowl (a geographically favorable one) will necessitate using their second-ranked offense and its plethora of weapons against Detroit’s bottom-third defense, including utilizing MVP candidate Christian McCaffery as often as possible through the evening.
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