Lions fans look for Goff and Stafford showdown in playoff run

Detroit — Honolulu blue and silver filled downtown Detroit streets Sunday as Lions fans tailgated before the last Detroit Lions game of the regular season.

Sunday’s finale against the Minnesota Vikings also was a dress rehearsal for the NFC playoffs as the Lions enter Ford Field as NFC North champions for the first time in team history.

The team secured a playoff spot for the first time since the 2015 season and some fans, including a few who even witnessed the last Lions playoff win in 1992, expect the Lions 2024 playoff run to be an even bigger triumph.

"It's good for all the people who have stuck it out for a long time," said Joe Ventimiglia of Berkley, a Detroit Lions season ticket holder for over 60 years.

He tailgated with friends Sunday, including Scott Ostrander of Bay City, in a parking lot near Ford Field on Witherell Street and Adams Avenue East.

Ventimiglia would like to see who is going to win the first playoff game in Detroit between former Lions quarterback Matthew Stafford and current Lions quarterback Jared Goff.

"The Rams are a good team. I think it'd be interesting to see Stafford and Goff play against each other in Detroit," said Ventimiglia, 67.

Ventimiglia, or "Parking Lot Joe," and Ostrander, 64, have built a friendship watching many Lions losses together over the last nine years. Sunday, they watched the Lions beat the Vikings, 30-20, at Ford Field.

"The team is really taking our coach's attitude and philosophy. (Dan) Campbell's done a great job with the Lions and I think it's actually starting to change some of the fans' feelings. I've been suffering with them for a long time and slowly getting belief because they're earning it," Ostrander said.

"I hope they continue to play well, what they've been doing. I've been going to them (Lions games) since the Silverdome days of Barry Sanders, so we'd like to have a nice season, where maybe we'll win a playoff game. We'll see. I'm optimistically confident, that's about all. I've had my heart broken too many times," he said.

He believes the Lions will win against any team during their playoff run but agreed that Stafford may be a challenge.

"I don't want Stafford to do anything we don't like, but it doesn't matter. I think we're going to win next week, too.

"To me ... to make the next step, the Lions maybe are going to need a more mobile quarterback, but I like Jared (Goff) and he's done a really good job. I think his teammates respect him and play hard for him," Ostrander said.

Fans on Sunday wore smiles and set up small enclaves near Ford Field despite falling snow and temperatures in the 30s.

Grant Gotaas of Clarkston sat with Chris Tolkdorf of Macomb County on the back of Tolkdorf's white pickup before kickoff. The friends are new season ticketholders and have watched the team grow.

"I'm 31 years old and seeing them crunch the North like this for the first time ever in my life is very cool. Last year, that was my first year season as being a season ticket holder, so watching them improve all season long to this year was definitely worth getting season tickets again," Tolkdorf said.

Fans can enroll to be waitlisted for season tickets for the Detroit Lions 2024 football season for a $100 deposit per seat.

Kevin Anderson of Sterling Heights, 56, was grilling food for friends Sunday morning.

"They're on the uptick, so it's a good thing. First playoff game since I've been a child," he said. He called himself a "five-decade Lions fan."

He said Stafford coming back to Detroit would be a "fun and interesting game."

"I'm just ready for the Lions to bite into them," Anderson said.

mjohnson@detroitnews.com

Rams at Lions

Super Wild Card Weekend

▶ Kickoff: 8 p.m., Sunday, Ford Field

▶ TV/radio: NBC/97.1

▶ Records: Los Angeles (10-7), Detroit (12-5)

▶ Outlook: The Lions will be playing their first home playoff game since the 1993 season.