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DETROIT – Derrick Barnes sat at his locker finishing another interview as the room emptied, leaving only boxes of equipment and a platter of peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. His phone lay face down on the top shelf, text messages and notifications rattling across the screen.
“Shoot, I haven’t even checked,” he said before grabbing his phone and scrolling through the dozens of notifications. His eyes shone.
“And that’s only in the last 20 minutes,” he said.
Let's go back to three years ago, when Barnes was a fourth-round pick out of Purdue and Dan Campbell was a first-year head coach with big dreams of turning around the crummy Detroit Lions. Barnes is “a late bloomer,” Campbell said Sunday. The college running back spent his first few seasons in Detroit finding his footing at linebacker, looking for confidence and finding his role in an evolving defense.
It wasn't until last summer that Barnes seemed to find his footing. And on Sunday, it all came together in a surreal moment that even he couldn't fully explain.
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In the final two minutes of an offensive duel between the Lions and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Barnes made the game-winning interception, which sparked deafening cheers from the 66,201 spectators at Ford Field. His play – a leaping grab like a third baseman catching a line drive – gave the Lions a 31-23 victory, their first divisional round win in 32 years, and gave them a Super Bowl win.
“It's a dream come true for me,” said Barnes, still grinning from ear to ear as a swarm of reporters crowded into his locker. “You see where we started [three] years ago with Dan. Everyone believed in Dan – what he wanted to build, what he had an eye for.”
It's actually fitting: The young linebacker who was once uncertain about his future but found his way with a little faith, a little coaching and a lot of work secured a victory more than three decades in the making for a city that was built according to a similar scheme.
NFC Divisional Playoff Game
“Here, man, it’s harsh winters, auto industry, workers,” Campbell said. “…And I just think that's what we're about. They want something the city can be proud of. … I feel like these people, they have an attachment to this city and this area.”
Also fitting: Exactly three years to the day before Sunday's game, Campbell announced at his introductory press conference that his team would “embrace the identity of this city” and “stretch” and “bite off the kneecaps” to become a competitive, resilient one to become a group.
Detroit's victory over the Buccaneers was a labored effort led by quarterback Jared Goff. His career came full circle in the first round when he led the Lions past his former team, the Los Angeles Rams. On Sunday, he reached a new level when he overcame a dull first half and led the Lions to three consecutive touchdowns in the final two quarters before the defense took the spotlight.
Solidarity through football everywhere in Detroit
Seven of the Lions' 10 longest plays came in the second half as Goff began to come into his own and bring the running game to life.
The focus all week in Detroit was on a Bucs defense that had rattled Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts a week earlier and was known for launching blitzes. But on Sunday, it was Detroit's defense that secured their win with two interceptions.
“We also have dogs on our site,” Barnes said.
The Lions' offensive line, a stalwart all season, lost guard Jonah Jackson to a knee injury early Sunday. Center Frank Ragnow – the anchor of the top five – was rolled up by a sack from Goff with just under two minutes left in the first half. But he didn't miss a snap and had a key block on running back Craig Reynolds into the end zone on fourth-and-1 in the third quarter.
“The guy is just a warrior, man,” left tackle Taylor Decker said, choking up as he thought of Ragnow. “And he went through it. He went through it personally; He went through it with us as a team. …It seems like he's constantly struggling with pain. I don't want to speak for him, but I feel like a small part of him is paranoid about not being out there with us because we've been through so much together.”
That Reynolds and Barnes, reserves who came to Detroit in 2021 and worked their way onto the roster, were part of a historic win only validates Campbell's methods. They came by design, not by accident, and found their way to leading roles at a critical moment.
Like so many others on the Lions roster, they followed a vision that initially seemed more like a pipe dream.
The Lions trusted Jared Goff. He took revenge with a historic victory.
“I feel like in the past few years when you were with the Lions, when I first got here, you told your friends that you were with the Lions and, 'Oh, you guys are no good.' You’re not going to do anything,” receiver Amon-Ra St. Brown said. “I’m sure someone told everyone on this team that. … We know what it feels like to be with the Detroit Lions, but we feel like we have a chance to change things not only this year but for years to come.”
Aidan Hutchinson, a Michigan native and No. 2 draft pick in 2022, understood it better than most. He was once one of those fans at Ford Field, watching his team toil in vain. On Sunday night, as his teammates celebrated at midfield, Hutchinson stood on the sideline, eyes smeared black on his cheek, surveying the crowd and taking in the magnitude of the moment.
Campbell's vision had become a reality, but these Lions aren't done yet.
“I imagined we would have a chance to compete with the big boys, and that's exactly where we got to,” said Campbell, his face still red with excitement. “I’m exhausted and I haven’t even played.”