After having to wait a week-plus to see who they would face in the divisional round of the NFL playoffs after securing the No. 1 seed and a first-round bye following a Week 18 win over the Minnesota Vikings, the Detroit Lions are now set for a matchup with the Washington Commanders this coming weekend.

The Commanders entered the playoffs as the No. 6 seed and are the lowest-remaining seed after toppling the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, 23-20. The Green Bay Packers were the lowest seed but fell to the Philadelphia Eagles, 22-10.

Detroit did not meet Washington during the 2024 regular season, but the two squads have faced off 47 times in total during their respective histories, including three postseason matchups — and the Lions are 0-3 in those games.

The first playoff meeting between the Lions and Commanders happened all the way back in the 1982 playoffs, when Washington crushed Detroit, 31-7. The Lions were losing 31-0 before finally scoring in the third quarter.

The two teams would meet again a decade later in the NFC Championship Game in the 1991 playoffs. Once again, Washington beat Detroit handily, 41-10, although the contest was close until Washington pulled away in the second half.

The most recent playoff matchup between the Lions and Commanders came in the 1999 playoffs, which had the smallest margin of victory for Washington, although they still won by two scores, 27-13, and had a 27-0 lead at one point. That was the first year without Barry Sanders for Detroit.

What does all of this mean? Absolutely nothing, but it’s still fun to take a look back at the history of these two squads in the playoffs with them being on a crash course for their fourth playoff matchup.

The Lions sport their best team in franchise history while Washington is the upstart team nobody expected to get this far. That said, the Commanders cannot be taken lightly and are very capable of knocking off the Lions thanks to star quarterback Jayden Daniels, who has been sensational in Year