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The NFC playoffs bracket is now set and Matthew Stafford will return to face the Detroit Lions in the Wildcard round. A come-from-behind touchdown and two-point conversion gave the Los Angeles Rams a 21-20 win over the San Francisco 49ers and clinch the sixth seed. They will face the third seed Detroit Lions, who won their Week 18 game against the Minnesota Vikings but were pipped to the second overall seed by the Dallas Cowboys, who beat the Washington Commanders.
This marks a return for Matthew Stafford to Detroit, where he began his professional football career after being selected as the first overall pick in the 2009 NFL Draft. He was traded to the Rams in 2021 as Jared Goff went the other way. The Los Angeles quarterback has picked up a Super Bowl, so it has worked out well for him. But with Goff being younger and flourishing this season, it looks as if it has turned out to be a pretty even trade.
Fans lose their minds over Matthew Stafford returning to face the Detroit Lions in NFC Wildcard playoffs
Fans are thrilled that they will get a chance to see Matthew Stafford return to Detroit, that too in a knockout playoff game. They took to X, formerly known as Twitter, to say that the script could not have been drawn up better. Here are some of the best responses from the platform.
No shortage of scripts in the NFL postseason
Matthew Stafford returning to face the Detroit Lions and Jared Goff, in turn, going up against the team that drafted him first overall in the 2016 NFL Draft, is just one of the plotlines that should make any NFL scriptwriter proud. The Green Bay Packers will travel to meet the Dallas Cowboys and will face a team coached by Mike McCarthy, who won them their last Super Bowl.
Staying with the NFC, we have Baker Mayfield and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers taking on Jalen Hurts and the Philadelphia Eagles. Both of them played for Oklahoma during their college careers.
Talking about quarterbacks, the Houston Texans will take on the Cleveland Browns in an AFC Wildcard matchup. Deshaun Watson might not be on the field, but he will definitely feature in the script prior to the game. The Texans might have moved on from him because of his off-field problems but they now have their new franchise quarterback in C.J. Stroud, who will be looking to cement his own legacy.
