The Detroit Lions are one win away from making it to the first Super Bowl in team history. Expectations were high for the 2023 NFL season with the team among the betting favorites at the start of the season.
With the Lions set to play in its first NFC Championship game on Sunday, here's a look at things that didn't exist the last time the team was one win away from the big game.
What Happened: Many NFL fans, especially those in the state of Michigan, know the Lions are one of the only teams to never make it to a Super Bowl. The team is one of only four teams to not appear in the modern-era championship game, with the other three teams not playing continuously each season since the Super Bowl was first launched.
The Lions, who were the number three seed in the NFC for the NFL Playoffs, will take on the number-one seeded San Francisco 49ers on Sunday, Jan. 28. The game airs at 6:30 p.m. ET on FOX, a unit of Fox Corporation FOXFOXA.
At the beginning the season with odds of +2,200 to win Super Bowl LVIII, the team is now +750 to win the big game and is two wins away from the unthinkable for the city of Detroit, according to odds from sportsbook DraftKings Inc DKNG.
The Lions have had recent success and made the postseason, but have failed to win a playoff game since the 1991 NFL season. The team lost games in the NFL Playoffs for the 1993, 1994, 1995, 1997, 1999, 2011, 2014 and 2016 seasons.
Before the two recent wins by the Lions in the 2023 NFL Playoffs, the last playoff win by the Lions was in January 1992. The team won their opening divisional round game against the Dallas Cowboys.
The win sent the Lions to the NFC Conference Championship, where the team lost to the Washington Redskins 10 to 41. The game was played on Jan. 12, 1992.
On Sunday, the Lions will play in its first NFC Championship game in 32 years, again one win away from reaching the first Super Bowl in team history.
What didn’t exist the last time the Lions played in the NFC Championship game?
Ford Field: Perhaps one of the easiest representations of the Lions’ success this season was its postseason history at Ford Field, the stadium the team has called home since 2002. The Lions’ playoff game against the Los Angeles Rams was the team's first playoff game played at Ford Field. The stadium wasn't around back in 1992 when the Lions were competing in the NFC Championship game.
NFL Teams: Thanks to league expansion, the NFL has grown in size and is now made up of 32 teams. Since the Lions last played in the NFC Championship game, several of the current NFL teams were added.
The Carolina Panthers and Jacksonville Jaguars joined the league in 1995. The Cleveland Browns became a team once again in 1999 with an expansion team awarded to Cleveland, which came three years after the team moved to Baltimore. The Houston Texans joined the NFL in 2002.
That's four NFL teams that weren't even around when the Lions last played in the NFC Championship game. This doesn't count the numerous relocations that also took place over the past 32 years.
Other Team Expansions: Outside the NFL, there has been a large amount of teams added to MLB, NBA and NHL since the Lions played in an NFC Championship game. This includes the Colorado Rockies, Florida Marlins, Tampa Bay Devil Rays and Arizona Diamondbacks in MLB.
In the NBA, the league has added the Toronto Raptors, Memphis Grizzlies (formerly Vancouver) and the New Orleans Pelicans (formerly New Orleans Hornets).
The NHL has added the Ottawa Senators, Tampa Bay Lightning, Florida Panthers, Anaheim Ducks, Nashville Predators, Winnipeg Jets (formerly Atlanta Thrashers), Columbus Blue Jackets, Minnesota Wild, Vegas Golden Knights and Seattle Kraken.
Social Media Platforms: A look back at the year 1992 would reveal that there was no X to post thoughts or insults on NFL teams and players. Facebook, which is owned by Meta Platforms Inc META also wasn't around as a place for people to share pictures from the games.
Related Link: Here’s Why The Detroit Lions, Dallas Cowboys Always Have Thanksgiving Day NFL Games
Cryptocurrency: Leading cryptocurrency Bitcoin BTC/USD was founded in 2009, following a white paper released the previous year. The market capitalization of Bitcoin is now more than $780 billion and one of many cryptocurrencies that are now readily available to trade by consumers.
iPhone, iPod, iPad: Technology giant Apple Inc AAPL has been around for decades and even advertised during the Super Bowl of the 1983 NFL season with its famous "1984" ad. Several of the company's best-known products would come after the Lions last reached the NFC Championship game.
The iPod, iPhone and iPad were launched in 2001, 2007 and 2010, respectively, and are now key staples in the Apple portfolio.
Netflix: The last time the Lions played in the NFC Championship game, Netflix Inc NFLX wasn't a company. Netflix launched its DVDs by mail service in 1998 and later went on to dominate the streaming market with the launch of the service in 2007.
Video Game Consoles: The video game rivalry between Microsoft Corp MSFT and Sony Group Corp SONY has been around for decades. It was after the Lions’ last appearance in an NFC Championship game that Sony released the first PlayStation in December 1994 and Microsoft launched the first Xbox in November 2001.
Pokemon: Now one of the world's top consumer product brands and well-known to kids (and young-at-heart) around the world, the Pokemon Company wasn't created until the success of video games and trading cards. Formed in 1996, The Pokemon Company celebrated its 25th anniversary in 2021 and today is 32% owned by Nintendo Co NTDOY. The first Pokemon video game was released in Japan in 1996 and later in North America in 1998.
Amazon.com: E-commerce leader Amazon.com, Inc. AMZN was founded by Jeff Bezos after he quit his job at an investment firm to open an online bookstore. That company was launched in 1994 by Bezos and went on to become one of the most valuable companies in the world.
Text Messaging: Lions fans looking for a way to celebrate with friends and family members in 1992 when the Lions reached the NFC Championship game couldn't send text messages. That's because the first-ever text message would be sent later in the year on Dec. 3, 1992, when Neil Papworth sent, "Merry Christmas.”
Photo: Shutterstock
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