The Detroit Lions are one win away from Super Bowl LVIII in Vegas

GRIT is one win away from the Promised Land.

The Detroit Lions advanced to their first NFC Championship Game in 32 years with a thrilling (and covering) 31-23 win over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers Sunday at Ford Field.

Get ready to hear all week that the Lions are one of four teams (Browns, Jags, Texans) to never play in a Super Bowl. But getting there won’t be easy. They have to go on the road to face the top-seeded San Francisco 49ers.

If you thought last week was big at Michigan sportsbooks, wait until you see this week. Caesars and DraftKings have already set the line on the Niners as a seven-point favorite. There will be additional markets and boosts added right up until kickoff.

Can the Lions Beat the Niners?

Detroit has beaten San Francisco once - just once - since 1997. San Francisco features an elite defense led by linebacker Fred Warner, defensive end Nick Bosa and a dynamic offense with the NFL’s leader in yards, Christian McCaffrey, at running back.

Niners quarterback Brock Purdy gets plenty of attention for being Mr. Irrelevant (the last pick of the 2022 NFL Draft) but he was at his best late in the Niners win over Green Bay in the Divisional Round.

Ironically, both the Niners and Lions clinched victories with a last-minute interception. To beat San Fran, Detroit has to play its best game of the season.

Love Ya Blue

Michigan is experiencing the greatest on-field performance by its football teams, well, maybe ever. Michigan won the College Football Playoff, and now the Lions are a victory away from Super Bowl LVIII in Las Vegas, where they’d face the winner of Baltimore/Kansas City.

The win over Tampa Bay showed off the youth and talent of the Lions. Rookie running back Jahmyr Gibbs had a long TD in the fourth quarter, rookie tight end Sam LaPorta had nine catches for 65 yards and rookie safety Brian Branch had an early sack.

The Lions are a combination of experienced veterans, like quarterback Jared Goff and wide receiver Amon-Ra St. Brown and young players emerging into stars.

Detroit is 13-6 against the spread this season, while the Niners are 9-9. This will only be the fourth time this season the Lions are the underdog. They were underdogs to Dallas, Baltimore and KC. They are 1-2 straight up as the underdog this season.

By:Darren Cooper

Born and raised in Louisiana, Darren Cooper has a fond appreciation for bayous, Mardi Gras beads and the sports betting industry. Darren has worked for multiple print and online publications since 1998, primarily as a sports columnist in the Northeast. He’s covered a Super Bowl (it was a blowout), the World Series (same) and the NBA Draft (man, those guys are tall). For the last few years he’s dug deep into the sports gambling industry as it exploded across America, learning how the legal sausage is made and how while all the sportsbooks look the same, they all have different identities and styles. He’s learned to always bet within his means -- and take the under. When not in front of his computer creating, Darren spends time with his three boys. He runs, reads and is always looking for the next big thing to write about.