Lions’ Rising Star Securing First NFC Championship Berth in Three Decades
After taking a 14-point lead in the fourth quarter, it didn’t appear the Detroit Lions were going to have to sweat it out until the final minutes of the divisional matchup against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. But the Buccaneers never quit and received a chance to tie the game if they could muster another touchdown drive in the final two minutes of the fourth quarter.
Lions linebacker Derrick Barnes, though, wasn’t going to allow it.
Barnes intercepted a Baker Mayfield pass with about 1:30 remaining in the fourth quarter. With Buccaneers possessing only 1 timeout left, the interception sealed Detroit’s first trip to the NFC championship game since January 1992.
Afterwards, Barnes delivered a message thanking his teammates and coaches for putting him in position to make such an impactful play.
“I just want to thank my teammates for believing in me,” Barnes said in an on-the-field interview with NBC’s Melissa Stark after the game. “Alex [Anzalone] and those guys, everybody in the linebacker room. Day in and day out, they just try to make me a better player. I appreciate them. I appreciate my coaches, AG (Aaron Glenn), Shepp (Kelvin Sheppard), Dan (Campbell), a lot of guys who believed in me.“This is a special moment. The city deserves it.”