The Detroit Lions are hosting their first playoff game in 30 years on Sunday night, with the extra layer of Matthew Stafford returning to Detroit as the quarterback of the Los Angeles Rams and Lions' quarterback Jared Goff going against his former team too.
The "expert" predictions for Sunday night's game are pretty divided, with some Rams' tilt in recent days, as some think the Rams and Stafford will pull off the relative upset while others think the Lions will hold court and end their lengthy playoff win drought.
The Lions have more players with previous playoff experience than you might think. So the postseason stage may not be as overwhelming for a set of younger players, as it's easy to just assume based on the franchise not having been to the playoffs since 2016. The home field advantage will be helpful too, and the atmosphere at Ford Field will be (as Stafford has said he expects this week) "rocking."
The Lions winning or losing Sunday night's game will be driven by the performance of a core group of players. Some of those names are easy to tab, while others might not be as obvious but will be just as important.
Here are the five biggest x-factors for the Lions against the Rams in the Wild Card Round.