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After taking a 14-point lead in the fourth quarter, it didn’t appear the Detroit Lions were going to have to sweat it out until the final minutes of the divisional matchup against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. But the Buccaneers never quit and received a chance to tie the game if they could muster another touchdown drive in the final two minutes of the fourth quarter.
Lions linebacker Derrick Barnes, though, wasn’t going to allow it.
Barnes intercepted a Baker Mayfield pass with about 1:30 remaining in the fourth quarter. With Buccaneers possessing only 1 timeout left, the interception sealed Detroit’s first trip to the NFC championship game since January 1992.
Afterwards, Barnes delivered a message thanking his teammates and coaches for putting him in position to make such an impactful play.
“I just want to thank my teammates for believing in me,” Barnes said in an on-the-field interview with NBC’s Kaylee Hartung after the game. “Alex [Anzalone] and those guys, everybody in the linebacker room. Day in and day out, they just try to make me a better player. I appreciate them. I appreciate my coaches, AG (Aaron Glenn), Shepp (Kelvin Sheppard), Dan (Campbell), a lot of guys who believed in me.
“This is a special moment. The city deserves it.”
Lions’ Derrick Barnes Interception Ends Buccaneers Comeback Attempt
Interestingly, Hartung’s player interview on the field after the game began only with Lions defensive end Aidan Hutchinson. But Barnes crashed the interview once it started.
Hartung rolled with it, first asking the linebacker about what he saw on the play that led to his interception.
“I think it was just preparation from the coaches. Coach Shepp was on us about packing seams,” Barnes said. “Just on that drop, I knew that the tight end wanted to bend away from where we drop usually between the hashes and the numbers. I kind of saw him try to bend behind me. I knew that’s where Baker Mayfield wanted to go. He showed it all week on film.
“When I felt that, I kind of turned back around and saw his eyes trying to throw it behind me. I just jumped the route.”
After explaining what happened on the interception, the linebacker then delivered his thank you message.
The pick was the first interception of Barnes’ career. For the Lions, it came at a near perfect time, as it ended any chance of the Buccaneers tying the score to force overtime.
In addition to the interception, Barnes had 1 pass defense and 4 total tackles in the divisional matchup. Three of those tackles were solos.
Lions safety C.J. Gardner-Johnson also had an interception in the first half. Detroit won the turnover battle, 2-0, in the game.
Lions Heading to Second NFC Championship Game
The 2023 Lions accomplished yet another feat. The team is going to its first NFC championship game since the 1991-92 season.
Coming into the weekend, Detroit’s 32 straight years without a conference championship game appearance was the second-longest active drought in the NFL. The Lions also had the second-fewest appearances in championship game history with only one.
The Houston Texans remain the only franchise with fewer, and they didn’t enter the league until 2002.
The Lions will make their second NFC championship game appearance in San Francisco on January 28. Their other trip to the NFC championship ended in a 41-10 loss to the then Washington Redskins.
The Lions last won an NFL championship game in 1957. The franchise has never appeared in a Super Bowl.
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