Lions vs. Rams set for Sunday in primetime as Goff, Stafford faceoff

DETROIT (FOX 2) - In March 2021, the Lions leader in many records was traded away to the Los Angeles Rams for a Super Bowl quarterback. The Rams won the Super Bowl the next NFL season while the Lions foundation was just being built. Almost three years later, those two quarterbacks are going to go head-to-head again.

Matthew Stafford will return to Detroit this Sunday for his first playoff game ever in Ford Field. And he'll not only be playing the team he spent more than a decade with, but he's going against the quarterback that the Rams traded to get him – Jared Goff.

The Stafford-Goff matchup has been building for weeks as the Lions clinched the division and the Rams were relegated to a wild card spot. They'll meet in Super Wild Card weekend and the NFL has set the game for…..

The Lions (12-5) play the Rams (10-7) next weekend. The game will be the first playoff matchup ever between the two teams and Stafford's first playoff game at Ford Field – a place where he spent 11 years and holds many of the Lions passing records.

Jared Goff #16 of the Detroit Lions throws a pass during the first quarter in the game against the Minnesota Vikings at Ford Field on January 07, 2024 in Detroit, Michigan. (Photo by Mike Mulholland/Getty Images)

If the Lions are to beat Stafford at his old home, they may have to do it without Pro Bowl rookie tight end Sam LaPorta, who went down in the Lions final game, a win over the Minnesota Vikings.

The same year the Rams traded for Stafford, they beat the Lions 28-19 in Los Angeles, en route to a Super Bowl championship in Stafford's first year in LA.

So not only will this be Stafford's first playoff game at Ford Field ever, it will also be his first return since the trade.

The Rams traded for Stafford by sending Goff, a 2021 third-round pick and two first-round picks in 2022 and 2023.

Goff was the Rams' first overall pick in the 2016 NFL draft and led the franchise to Super Bowl LIII, a loss to the Patriots.