The first Sunday Night Football of the season will see a playoff rematch between the LA Rams and the Detroit Lions.

The two sides faced off in January in an instant classic in the wildcard round of the 2023 playoffs, with the Lions edging out the Rams 24-23.

It was a hotly contested game with plenty of history between the players on both teams. 

The Rams and Lions exchanged quarterbacks in a trade in 2021 when Matthew Stafford joined the Rams and Jared Goff headed to Detroit. The Rams sent Goff to the Lions along with a host of picks, from which Detroit has built a Super Bowl-contending team led by head coach Dan Campbell. 

However, Los Angeles would argue they won the trade as Stafford led the Rams to the Lombardi trophy in 2022 on home turf at the SoFi stadium. 

Team news

Detroit Lions:

The Lions have as many as 10 players on the injured reserve list, including starting kicker Michael Badgley, Defensive back Emmanuel Moseley and wide receivers Tre’Quan Smith and Antoine Green.

DJ Reader, Ifeatu Melifonwu and Loren Strickland are all questionable for the Lions.

Los Angeles Rams:

The Rams are dealing with a host of injuries and suspensions.

Starting left tackle Alaric Jackson is serving a two-game suspension for violating the NFL’s personal conduct policy, whilst backup quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo is serving the first of a two-game suspension after violating the NFL’s performance-enhancing drug policy.

Starting right tackle Rob Havenstein and cornerback Cobie Durant are both questionable for the contest whilst Darious Williams, Derion Kendrick, Tre Tomlinson, Anthony Goodlow, Larell Murchison, KT Leveston, Conor McDermott and Tyler Higbee will all miss the matchup against the Lions due to being on the IR list.

Key players

Matthew Stafford

Despite entering the Lion’s den to a chorus of boos in January, Stafford managed to play a tidy game. The former Lions QB completed 25 of his 36 passes for 367 yards, including two touchdown passes, zero interceptions and a passer rating of 120.

Now back after a long offseason with a receiving corps that consists of Cooper Kupp, Puka Nacua, Demarcus Robinson and impressive rookie Jordan Whittington, Stafford will be determined to win in Detroit and silence the Lions fans who used to cheer him. 

Aidan Hutchinson 

Hutchinson caused problems all night long for the Rams offensive line in January. The Michigan alumni accumulated six tackles and two sacks as the Lions edged the Rams by a singular point. Stafford was hit seven times throughout the contest, with Hutchinson registering five.

Hutchinson should be licking his lips at the thought of facing a Rams offensive line that could be missing both starting tackles. 

In 34 games for the Lions, Hutchinson has 21 sacks, three forced fumbles, four interceptions and 10 pass deflections since being drafted second overall by Detroit in the 2022 draft. 

Head-to-head

The Rams lead the series 45-42-1 with a total points tally of 1756 compared to the Lions tally of 1651.

The Rams will be looking to avenge their playoff defeat to the Lions in January which saw their starting quarterback treated to a hostile atmosphere and starting tight end Tyler Higbee suffer a torn ACL following a low tackle from Kerby Joseph.

The Lions however will see this season as the one with a real opportunity to make their first-ever Super Bowl appearance and a fitting way to do so would be to beat the team that helped assemble their Super Bowl calibre team by giving them their starting quarterback as well as two first-round draft picks.

Where and when

The game will take place at the Lions Ford Field Stadium on Sunday, September 8 at 8:20 PM ET. That’s a 1:20 AM start on Monday (September 9) for UK fans. 

How to watch 

The first Sunday Night Football of the season will be shown live on NBC in the US and on Sky Sports NFL in the UK.