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They're 2 wins from the Super Bowl, but for the Detroit Lions 'it all starts with one'
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- They're 2 wins from the Super Bowl, but for the Detroit Lions 'it all starts with one'
When Anthony Pittman made his regular Whole Foods run on the Detroit Lions ' off day Tuesday, the fifth-year linebacker stopped to chat with one of the store's security guards, as has become his custom.
Typically, Pittman and the guard spend a few minutes each week recapping the Lions ' last game. This week, the man greeted Pittman with a prediction.
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"He's like, 'Hey, you're on the way to the Super Bowl,'" Pittman said. "I said, 'Hey, three more and we're going to get there.'"
A Detroit Lions fan cheers from the stands during the third quarter of the wild-card round of the NFC playoffs against the L.A. Rams at Ford Field in Detroit on Sunday, Jan. 14, 2024.
As Lions players made their way around town this week, they bumped into fan after fan still flying high off last week's win over the Los Angeles Rams , their first postseason victory in 32 years.
Running back David Montgomery told a story Wednesday of a woman coming over to thank him for all the Lions have accomplished this season while he was pumping gas. Wide receiver Amon-Ra St. Brown was scheduled Friday to speak with an elderly fan in hospice care who dyed his hair blue, like St. Brown did for the playoffs. And offensive tackle Taylor Decker marveled at pictures of the same fan he saw on social media.
"So cool, man," said Pittman, a Detroit native who played at Wayne State before signing with the Lions as an undrafted free agent in 2019. "I just been thinking about we get all the way, how everything's going to be, the parade and just the love around the city will be just insane to think about. It's been cool so far, so I really want to get this done so we can make history."
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To make history, the Lions first must beat the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in a divisional playoff game Sunday at Ford Field.
Tracy Walker III of the Detroit Lions high-fives fans after his team's 20-6 win against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers at Raymond James Stadium on October 15, 2023, in Tampa, Florida.
The Lions last won two playoff games in a season in 1957 , when they beat the San Francisco 49ers in a divisional game before beating the Cleveland Browns for the NFL championship.
If they win Sunday, the Lions will have doubled their postseason victory total from the entire Super Bowl era in the past two weeks, and earned a spot in the NFC championship game next Sunday evening.
Super Bowl 58 is Feb. 11 just outside Las Vegas in Paradise, Nevada.
"It's the same mindset we have all year is just beat the (expletive) out of whoever's in front of us, honestly," Pittman said. "And that's just the chip on our shoulder as a defense and as an offense, definitely, and special teams as well. Must win every rep."
Lions linebacker Anthony Pittman tackles Panthers punt return Ihmir Smith-Marsette during the second half of the Lions' 42-24 win on Sunday, Oct. 8, 2023, at Ford Field.
Lions guard Graham Glasgow , a 2016 draft pick in his second stint with the team after a three-year hiatus with the Denver Broncos , said it was "really cool to be able to be a part of history" after surviving some of the franchise's leanest years.
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The Lions last week scored touchdowns on their first three possessions and got three key defensive stops in the red zone to beat the Rams, 24-23. Bucs quarterback Baker Mayfield said this week Rams players told him the game was "the loudest thing they've ever heard."
"We're all out here at work and I think there's only what, eight teams left now going at it," Glasgow said. "So in regards to that, it's super special. There've been a lot of times we've already been taking plastic garbage bags to our lockers and guys are already home or on vacation, so it's amazing."
Detroit Lions quarterback Jared Goff calls a play at the line of scrimmage with center Frank Ragnow and left guard Graham Glasgow against the Minnesota Vikings defense at Ford Field in Detroit on Sunday, Jan. 7, 2024.
As amazing as last week's win was, Glasgow said the special feeling had "kind of worn off" by the time the Lions returned to work Wednesday "cause you're just ready to go back in for more."
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"You don't want to just win one game," he said. "If you won one game, what's the point? You might as well have won zero games, cause it still ends the same. I will say that all things considered this has been an extremely successful year, an extremely good year. But as I said, at the end of the day, only one team's happy so just trying to keep pushing and go from there."
For the Lions, the goal since the beginning of the season has been to be the one happy team at the end of the year.
That's why linebacker Alex Anzalone said last week's win was "bigger for the fans and the city than it probably was for us."
Detroit Lions head coach Dan Campbell during warmups before the Dallas Cowboys game at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas on Saturday, Dec. 30, 2023.
"It was exciting in the locker room and for guys, but at the same time it wasn't a Super Bowl for us," Anzalone said. "Just winning that one game's not our standard and we have a great opportunity this week. You're just trying to, as a competitor, you move on to the next game."
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The Lions beat the Bucs, 20-6, in the first meeting between the teams in Week 6, when the Lions played without starters Jonah Jackson , Jahmyr Gibbs , Brian Branch and C.J. Gardner-Johnson , and Mayfield missed three passes to open Tampa receivers for would-be touchdowns.
WHAT WE LEARNED: Lions beat the Bucs in Week 6, but Sunday rematch won't be a cakewalk
The Lions are healthy now, and the Bucs are one of the hottest teams in the NFL. Tampa won five of its final six regular season games to win the NFC South and gave up nine total points the past two weeks in wins over the Philadelphia Eagles (in a wild-card game) and lowly Carolina Panthers (in Week 18).
Lions coach Dan Campbell called the Bucs "a major test" with their stingy defense and dangerous downfield passing attack , but said it's one his players seem locked in for.
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There was no celebration, no sense of accomplishment in the locker room this week, and everyone understands what it takes to reach their goal.
"There's only three left here, but it all starts with one," Campbell said. "And that's really the process all year. No matter where you're at, if you lost one, you won five in a row, now you're in the playoffs, man, it's all about the one in front of you. You have to stay focused on that."
Contact Dave Birkett at dbirkett@freepress.com . Follow him @davebirkett .
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Detroit Lions focused on a win as city celebrates: We can make history
