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Lions advance to first NFC title game since 1991 season with win vs. Buccaneers

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Lions advance to first NFC title game since 1991 season with win vs. Buccaneers

By Larry Holder, Colton Pouncy and Mike Jones

It’s only the second time in NFL history where this statement has been true: The Detroit Lions are one win away from a berth in the Super Bowl.

The Lions pulled away in the fourth quarter after both teams flip-flopped scoring throughout the first three quarters as Detroit knocked off the Tampa Bay Buccaneers 31-23 in the NFC divisional round on Sunday at Ford Field.

Detroit will travel to face the San Francisco 49ers in the NFC Championship next Sunday at Levi’s Stadium. The Niners toppled the Green Bay Packers in Saturday’s divisional round matchup.

This will be the Lions’ second NFC Championship Game appearance in the Super Bowl era. Detroit fell to Washington in the 1991 season in its first appearance.

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Rookie tailback Jahmyr Gibbs darted through the middle of the offensive line, then took his cut to the left for a 31-yard touchdown run with 13:13 left in the game to push the Lions ahead 24-17. Then Detroit sealed it when Jared Goff hit Amon-Ra St. Brown for a 9-yard TD pass to make it 31-17 with 6:22 remaining.

Goff went 30-of-43 passing for 287 yards with two touchdowns resulting in a 103.5 passer rating.

The Bucs managed to cut the lead to 31-23 on the next possession when Baker Mayfield found Mike Evans for a 16-yard TD pass at the 4:41 mark. The two-point conversion attempt failed. Lions linebacker Derrick Barnes picked off Mayfield with 1:33 left, though, to thwart any comeback.

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The Lions’ fourth-quarter scoring sequence erased the trend from the first 45 minutes.

Detroit’s Craig Reynolds punched in a 1-yard touchdown run on fourth down to push Detroit up 17-10 with 3:48 remaining in the third quarter. Mayfield helped Tampa Bay tie it up on the ensuing possession with a second game-tying TD by hitting Rachaad White on a screen pass for a 12-yard scoring connection.

Mayfield went 26-of-41 passing for 349 yards with three TDs and two interceptions for a 94.5 passer rating. Evans hauled in eight receptions for 147 yards and one TD.

The back-and-forth scoring trend started in the first half. Detroit broke a 3-3 tie when Goff hit Josh Reynolds on a crossing route for a 9-yard touchdown connection early in the second quarter.

The Athletic has live coverage of Chiefs vs. Bills in the AFC divisional round matchup

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Then Evans added consecutive catches of 27 and 29 yards from Mayfield with less than a minute left put the Bucs at the 2. Mayfield capped off a 92-yard drive by finding Cade Otton on the next play for a 2-yard TD grab to make it 10-10 heading into halftime.

Lions fans, this is happening!

The Lions are going to the NFC Championship. Yes, you read that right.

Those Lions are one win away from a Super Bowl appearance. They’re in this position because they took care of business against the Buccaneers, making every play they needed to. The offense put up 31 points, keeping its foot on the gas pedal and capitalizing in the red zone. The defense kept the Lions in this one until the offense was ready, and made the game-sealing play via a Barnes interception. That was a complete win, in the playoffs, for this Lions team. Detroit advances.

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The Lions will face their biggest test yet, traveling to San Francisco to take on the 49ers. It won’t be easy going against Christian McCaffrey and the NFC’s No. 1 seed, but these Lions believe they can play anywhere, against anyone, and win. We’ll see what they have in store next week. — Colton Pouncy, Lions beat writer

GO DEEPER

Lions are winning playoff games and changing perceptions of what they can accomplish

Tampa Bay’s valiant fight comes up short

Tampa Bay put up a valiant fight, but in the fourth quarter just couldn’t come up with the stops needed to overtake the Lions. And then the Detroit defense stepped up big with the interception to seal the game. Detroit was just the better team. This game — especially in the second half — felt like a prize fight, but the Lions were the slightly more skilled and slightly more talented fighter and prevailed.

This one will sting for a while for Mayfield, but he delivered some very clutch plays under pressure for the Bucs and gave them a chance until that final possession. — Mike Jones, national NFL writer

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Required reading

(Photo: Gregory Shamus / Getty Images)

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ESPN’s Stephen A Smith hears boos from WrestleMania 42 crowd

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ESPN’s Stephen A Smith hears boos from WrestleMania 42 crowd

NEWYou can now listen to Fox News articles!

Danhausen’s curse may be real after all – just ask Stephen A. Smith and the New York Mets.

While the latter dropped their 10th game in a row, Smith got his share of the curse on Saturday night during Night 1 of WrestleMania 42. Smith was in attendance for WWE’s premier event of the year and heard massive boos from the crowd.

Stephen A. Smith attends WrestleMania 42: Night 1 at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas, Nevada, on April 18, 2026. (Andrew Timms/WWE)

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Smith was sitting ringside to watch the action. The ESPN star appeared on the videoboard above the ring at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas. He appeared to embrace the reaction and smiled through it.

The boos came after Danhausen appeared on “First Take” on Friday – much to the chagrin of the sports pundit. Smith appeared perplexed by Danhausen’s appearance. Smith said he heard about Danhausen and called him a “bad luck charm.”

Danhausen said Smith had been “rude” to him and put the dreaded “curse” on the commentator.

WWE STAR DANHAUSEN SAYS METS ‘CURSE’ ISN’T EXACTLY LIFTED AS TEAM DROPS NINTH STRAIGHT GAME

Stephen A. Smith attends WrestleMania 42: Night 1 at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas, Nevada, on April 18, 2026. (Andrew Timms/WWE)

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Smith is far from the only one dealing with the effects of the “curse.”

Danhausen agreed to “un-curse” the Mets during their losing streak. However, he told Fox News Digital earlier this week that there was a reason why the curse’s removal didn’t take full effect.

“I did un-curse the Mets. But it didn’t work because, I believe it was Brian Gewirtz who did not pay Danhausen. He did not send me my money so it did not take full effect,” Danhausen said. “Once I have the money, perhaps it will actually work because right now it’s probably about a half of an un-cursing. It’s like a layaway situation.”

Danhausen enters the arena before his match against Kit Wilson during SmackDown at SAP Center in San Jose, Calif., on April 10, 2026. (Eakin Howard/Getty Images)

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On “Friday Night SmackDown,” WWE stars like The Miz and Kit Wilson were also targets of Danhausen’s curse.

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After 55 years as a broadcaster in L.A., Randy Rosenbloom is leaving town

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After 55 years as a broadcaster in L.A., Randy Rosenbloom is leaving town

It’s time to reveal memories, laughs and crazy times from Randy Rosenbloom’s 55 years as a TV/radio broadcaster in Los Angeles. He’s hopping in a car next Sunday with his wife, saying goodbye to a North Hollywood house that’s been in his family since 1952 and driving 3,300 miles to his new home in Greenville, S.C.

“When I walk out, I’ll probably break down,” he said.

He graduated from North Hollywood High in 1969. He got his first paid job in 1971 calling Hart basketball games for NBC Cable Newhall for $10 a game. It began an adventure of a lifetime.

“I never knew if I overachieved or underachieved. I just did what I loved,” he said.

Randy Rosenbloom (left) used to work with former UCLA coach John Wooden for TV games.

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(Randy Rosenbloom)

John Wooden, Jerry Tarkanian and Jim Harrick were among his expert commentators when he did play by play for college basketball games. He called volleyball at the 1992 and 1996 Olympic Games for NBC and rowing in 2004. He’s worked more than 100 championship high school events. He did play by play for the first and only Reebok Bowl at Angel Stadium in 1994 won by Bishop Amat over Sylmar, 35-14.

“There were about 5,000, 6,000 people there and I remember thinking nobody watched the game. We ended up with a 5.7 TV rating on Channel 13 in Los Angeles, which is higher than most Lakers games.”

He conducted interviews with NFL Hall of Famers Gale Sayers and Johnny Unitas and boxing greats Robert Duran, Thomas Hearn and Sugar Ray Leonard. He’s worked with baseball greats Steve Garvey and Doug DeCinces. He called games with former USC coach Rod Dedeaux. He was in the radio booth for Bret Saberhagen’s 1982 no-hitter in the City Section championship game at Dodger Stadium. He was a nightly sportscaster for KADY in Ventura.

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Randy Rosenbloom, left, with his volleyball broadcast partners, Kirk Kilgour and Bill Walton.

Randy Rosenbloom, left, with his volleyball broadcast partners, Kirk Kilgour and Bill Walton.

(Randy Rosenbloom)

He was the voice of Fresno State football and basketball. He also did Nevada Las Vegas football and basketball games. He called bowl games and Little League games. He was a public address announcer for basketball at the 1984 Olympic Games with Michael Jordan the star and did the P.A. for Toluca Little League.

Nothing was too small or too big for him.

“I loved everything,” he said.

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He called at least 10 East L.A. Classic football games between Garfield and Roosevelt. He was there when Narbonne and San Pedro tied 21-21 in the 2008 City championship game at the Coliseum on a San Pedro touchdown with one second left.

Probably his most notable tale came when he was doing radio play-by-play at a 1998 college bowl game in Montgomery, Ala.

“I look down and a giant tarantula is crawling up my pants,” he said. “My color man took all the press notes, wadded them up and hit the tarantula like swinging a bat.”

Did Rosenbloom tell the audience what was happening?

“I stayed calm,” he said.

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Then there was the time he was in the press box at Sam Boyd Stadium and a bat flew in and attached itself to the wooden press box right next to him before flying away after he said, “UNLV wins.”

Recently, he’s been putting together high school TV packages for LA36 and calling travel ball basketball games. He’ll still keep doing a radio gambling show from his new home, but he’s cutting ties to Los Angeles to move closer to grandchildren.

“I’m retiring from Los Angeles. I’m leaving the market,” he said.

Hopefully he’ll continue via Zoom to do a weekly podcast with me for The Times.

He’s a true professional who’s versatility and work ethic made him a reliable hire from the age of 18 through his current age of 74.

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He’s a member of the City Section Hall of Fame and the Southern California Jewish Sports Hall of Fame. He once threw the shot put 51 feet, 7 1/2 inches, which is his claim to fame at North Hollywood High.

One time an ESPN graphic before a show spelled his name “Rosenbloom” then changed it to “Rosenblum” for postgame. It was worth a good laugh.

He always adjusts, improvises and ad-libs. He expects to enjoy his time in South Carolina, but he better watch out for tarantulas. They seem to like him.

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Becky Lynch enters exclusive WWE club with Women’s Intercontinental Championship win at WrestleMania 42

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Becky Lynch enters exclusive WWE club with Women’s Intercontinental Championship win at WrestleMania 42

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Becky Lynch entered an atmosphere no other WWE women’s superstar has ever reached as she won the Women’s Intercontinental Championship over AJ Lee on Saturday night at WrestleMania 42.

Lynch became the first person to hold the Women’s Intercontinental Championship three times after she pinned Lee. She first won the title against Lyra Valkyria in June 2025 and then again against Maxxine Dupri in November.

Becky Lynch celebrates with the belt after defeating AJ Lee during their women’s Intercontinental Championship match at WrestleMania 42 in Las Vegas, Nev., on April 18, 2026. (Ethan Miller/Getty Images)

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She dropped the belt to Lee at the Elimination Chamber, sparking a monthslong feud with her.

Lee gave Lynch the chance at the title in the weeks prior to WrestleMania 42. But it appeared Lee played right into Lynch’s plans. Despite arguing with referee Jessica Carr for most of the match, Lynch was able to tactfully tear down a rope buckle and use it to her advantage.

Lynch hit Lee with a Manhandle Slam and pinned her for the win.

WWE STARS REVEAL WHAT MAKES WRESTLEMANIA SO SPECIAL: ‘IT’S THE SUPER BOWL OF PRO WRESTLING’

AJ Lee reacts after losing to Becky Lynch in their Women’s Intercontinental Championship match at WrestleMania 42 at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas on April 18, 2026. (Ethan Miller/Getty Images)

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It’s the second straight year Lynch will leave Las Vegas as champion. She returned to WWE at WrestleMania 41, teaming with Valkyria, to win the women’s tag titles. She will now leave Allegiant Stadium as the women’s intercontinental champion.

Lynch is now a seven-time women’s champion, three-time women’s intercontinental champion and two-time tag team champion.

Becky Lynch withstands AJ Lee during their Women’s Intercontinental Championship match on night one of WrestleMania 42 at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas, Nev., on April 18, 2026. (Ethan Miller/Getty Images)

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Lee’s reign as champion ended really before it could really begin. WrestleMania 42 was her first appearance at the event in 11 years. It’s unclear where Lee will go from here.

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