Get your popcorn ready because there’s a good chance we’ll get a Rams-Lions showdown in the wild-card round next weekend. According to ESPN’s Seth Walder, there’s a 61% chance the Rams and Lions will meet in the first round of the playoffs. It’s the third-most likely wild-card matchup of the postseason, behind only Browns-Jaguars (69%) and Eagles-Bucs (63%).
One scenario that would set up a Rams-Lions meeting in the first round is a win by Los Angeles, Detroit and Dallas. If the Rams, Cowboys and Eagles all lose, the Rams and Lions can still meet in the wild-card round if the Packers and Lions also lose.
Right now, the Rams are the sixth seed and the Lions are third, which puts them on a collision course for wild-card weekend.
Most likely wild card round matchups to occur:
Browns-Jaguars 69%
Eagles-Bucs 63%
Rams-Lions 61%
Dolphins-Chiefs 54%
Packers-Lions 38%— Seth Walder (@SethWalder) January 4, 2024
The storylines for that game would write themselves. Jared Goff would be facing his former coach and team, who dumped him in a trade for Matthew Stafford three years ago. Stafford would be facing the team he spent 12 years with, potentially preventing the Lions from winning their first playoff game since 1991 – and in Detroit, nonetheless. Former Rams executive Brad Holmes is now the Lions’ general manager, too, so he’d be going up against his former team.
The Lions wouldn’t be an easy opponent for the Rams, but you can bet Detroit would be at least slightly worried about facing Stafford and the Rams in the first round, too.