Detroit Lions safety C.J. Gardner-Johnson sat by himself in the corner of a joyous dressing room, adjusting his jewelry for a night on the town.

But before leaving he made a bold proclamation. The Lions train kept a rolling late Sunday night with the biggest win in Lions history. Their 24-23 Super Wildcard victory came before 66,367 rabid fans at Ford Field. It came after talk radio and the internet became a big thing.

And it is their first playoff win since this wild and crazy invention called texting began.

The little team that could is on a roll now, one that will carry it to the Super Bowl according to Gardner-Johnson.

“We are going all the way,” he said.

I do not agree with Johnson. But at the same time, why not the Lions? They survived their first playoff win in three decades against a Rams team that collected Super Bowl rings a year ago.

The Lions are a new look NFL team—one that is not built on defense, but one built on a dangerous offense.

They are led by a coach who is changing the way more respected and established coaches are coaching. He is more trailblazer than goofball.

Why not the Lions? Quarterback Jared Goff has been the best quarterback in the NFL since 2017.

In the last five years he’s thrown for more first downs than any other quarterback (1,439). He’s thrown for more passing yards (29,340), had the most completions (2,545), is fifth in touchdown passes (180). But in typical Lions fans fashion he is viewed as hot garbage.

He is 21-7 in his last 28 starts with the Lions with wins in Green Bay, Chicago and Kansas City. We don’t remember those games. We only remember the games he loses.

This town never totally embraces the Lions starting quarterback. You can include Matthew Stafford, the man Goff defeated Sunday, Scott Mitchell, Rodney Peete, Greg Landry and Erik Kramer. The List goes on.

Why not the Lions?

Amon-Ra St. Brown is the smallest tight end in NFL history. This blue-haired devil is often Goff’s bail out man when things are tight – just like a tight end does. He even blocks. St. Brown is always open and ready to catch the ball. When the Lions wanted to run clock during the final minutes of the game and send the Rams home Goff hit St. Brown on a crossing pattern for a first down at the Lions 45 that sent fans howling in delight and the Lions into victory formation.

Why not the Lions?

They were 4-2 during a period when this town freaked out about Goff, the defense, and Campbell’s mental capacity.
Why not the Lions?

Their offense line is second or third best in the NFL and paved the way for David Montgomery (1,015 yards rushing) and Jahmyr Gibbs (945). The Lions do not need to light up the sky in the air. If Goff is having an off night they can ground and pound.

What are these Lions exactly?

“I would say we are silent killers,” linebacker Derrick Barnes said. “We don’t make a lot of noise when people say they don’t believe. We go out every week and give our all. We expect to win. We respect our opponents but we have a mindset that we’re going to win.”

“We are super excited. We have a lot of good guys who go out and ball out. It’s amazing and it is very special what we are doing.”

Why not?

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For more from the author Terry Foster, check him out on Twitter here: @terryfosterdet

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Original Photo Credit: © Junfu Han / USA TODAY NETWORK