Game Recap: Rams fall to Lions 24-23 in Detroit in Wild Card ...

DETROIT – The matchup certainly lived up to the hype, and as the game unfolded, it became apparent the team that possessed the ball last was going to come away with the victory.

That team was the Lions.

The Rams saw their season end with a narrow 24-23 loss to the Lions on Sunday night at Ford Field.

Trailing 24-23 with 7:18 left in the fourth quarter, the Rams got the ball back after a stop by their defense, but faced a steep drive starting from their own 9-yard line. They reached the Lions' 34 and were seemingly in position for a long field goal attempt by kicker Brett Maher, but a holding penalty against them that the Lions accepted turned into a 3rd-and-14 from the Lions 44. Quarterback Matthew Stafford's subsequent incompletion forced the Rams to punt with 4:07 remaining.

Left with one timeout after having to burn two of them by the early part of the fourth quarter, though, time was not on the Rams' side. At the 2-minute warning, the Lions faced 2nd and 9 from their own 32, but on the other side of it, Lions quarterback Jared Goff fired an 11-yard completion to wide receiver Amon-Ra St. Brown for the first down. The Rams burned their last timeout, but it wouldn't matter, as the Lions took a knee to drain the remaining 1:54 to secure the victory.

Stafford authored an impressive performance in the loss, completing 25 of 36 pass attempts for 367 yards and two touchdowns; his 367 passing yards were the second-most in a single playoff game in his career. Wide receiver Puka Nacua finished with nine catches for 181 yards and one touchdown; his 181 receiving yards set an NFL rookie playoff record.

Here is the complete game recap, presented by Toyota:

The Lions took an early 7-0 lead on a 10-play, 75-yard scoring drive capped by a 1-yard touchdown run by running back David Montgomery. The series erased 5 and a half minutes off the clock.

The Rams answered by marching to the Lions' 6-yard line, but were forced to settle for a 24-yard field goal attempt by Maher to cut their deficit to four with 4:26 left in the first quarter.

While Los Angeles' second offensive series got off to a difficult start, it ended with a spectacular 50-yard touchdown pass down the left sideline from Stafford to Nacua to once again make it just a four-point deficit for L.A. early in the second quarter. But Detroit again had an answer, this time a 2-yard touchdown pass from Goff to LaPorta to extend its lead to 21-10 midway through the second quarter.