NFL Playoffs 2025: Previewing Commanders vs. Lions Divisional round matchup

The NFL Divisional Round matchup is giving us one of the best feel-good matchups of the entire season.

On one side, the Detroit Lions. With a dominant defense and an absolutely explosive offense, the Lions have looked the part of the best team in all of football, and have fans more excited than they've been at any point in the team's supremely depressing history.

On the other, the Washington Commanders. Finally freed from the clutches of Dan Snyder's ownership, the Commanders are playing fun, flowing football behind rookie quarterback Jayden Daniels.

Will the Lions continue to assert their dominance over the league? Or will Daniels continue his human dynamo routine and knock off the league's best team? Let's break it down.

Lions' Offense: The Lions had the single best scoring offense in the NFL, and it wasn't particularly close. They put up 564 points on the year, 39 points better than the second-ranked Buffalo Bills. That's more an a game's worth of points from either of those teams.

Jared Goff has been electric, throwing for 4,629 yards and 37 touchdowns. Amon-Ra St. Brown and Jameson Williams each posted 1,000 yard seasons, but four other players have at least 300 receiving yards as well. Offensive coordinator Ben Johnson is the hottest head coaching candidate in all of football for a reason, after all.

But Detroit is no one-trick pony; the run game ranks sixth in yards, third in touchdowns, and sixth in yards per play. Jahmyr Gibbs and David Montgomery deliver an epic thunder and lightning combination, with Gibbs posting 1,412 yards and 16 touchdowns, and Montgomery delivering 775 and 12 scores. Johnson deploys them both masterfully, and makes this team incredibly tough to stop.

Lions' Defense: The Lions are a tough team to parse defensively. On one hand, on paper, this has been one of the best units in the sport this season; they rank seventh in points allowed, and third in both passing yards allowed and touchdowns allowed. They rank fifth in rushing yards allowed, and 11th in rushing touchdowns allowed. They rank fifth in interceptions, and have the second-highest blitz rate in all of football.

This is a blitz and man team, through and through. They're going to come after you, and they're going to bank on their corners to keep your receivers in check.

The problem? This might be the most injury-plagued unit in the NFL. Detroit has lost seven defensive linemen to injured reserve, as well as three different corners and three linebackers. For those of you scoring at home, that's more than a full defense's worth of players who will not be playing in this game. As a result, the defense that looked so good for most of the season has given up 30 or more points three times in their last five games. Fortunately, the Lions might be the only team with an offense that can fully shoulder the load.

Path to Victory: Get out to an early lead, and hang on for dear life. Hope your defense can slow Jayden Daniels down enough to get out of this likely shootout with a win.

Commanders' Offense: Daniels is the heart and soul of this team. He is the sublime, dynamic playmaker that keeps things humming smoothly, the primary reason why Washington ranks fifth in points, seventh in yards, and ninth in passing yards on the season, and is also the main reason why their run game ranks third in yards, fourth in touchdowns, and fourth in yards per carry on the season.

Daniels has thrown for 3,568 yards, 25 touchdowns, and just nine picks. He's also Washington's leading rusher, racking up 891 yards and six scores on the year. That he managed that feat with only Terry McLaurin as a receiving threat that worries NFL defenses, and with an offensive line that allowed him to get sacked 50 times on the year only underscores just how good he's been.

Commanders' Defense: This has been a pretty meh defense this season. They rank 18th in points allowed and 20th in yards allowed, while also picking off just seven passes. They don't give up a ton of passing yards, ranking third in yards allowed in that sphere, but they also don't get a ton of sacks, ranking 12th despite blitzing on 31.5 percent of snaps. Nothing crazy, but nothing awful, either.

The problems come in the run game; the Commanders allowed the third-most yards in the league on the year, and the fifth-most yards per carry of any team.

Overall, the defense isn't bad, but you shouldn't count on them to win any games in the playoffs.

Path to Victory: Let Jayden Daniels cook. Your best bet to beat Detroit is going to be a shootout, and hoping your defense does just enough to get the ball in your hands last with a chance to win the game.

The Verdict: You want points? You're going to get points here. The Lions' defense is beat to hell, and the Commanders are just kind of mid defensively. And when it comes to scoring, there is no team better equipped to score points than the Lions. Expect them to win this one in front of a VERY raucous home crowd.

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