Stats of the Weird For Lions NFC Championship Game vs. 49ers

The Detroit Lions are headed to the NFC Championship for just the second time in the 90-year history of the franchise. That's a stat nearly every Lions fan and many NFL fans know heading into Sunday night's matchup with the No. 1 seed San Francisco 49ers.

There is plenty of a story to tell before the game kicks off. Head coach Dan Campbell and quarterback Jared Goff have spearheaded a quick turnaround in Detroit that fans of the Lions have agonizingly waited for over 30 years. They just won the first playoff game ever played in a 22-year-old stadium at Ford Field and managed to follow it up with a second-straight victory to get to this point.

But again, these are the stats and stories most everyone knows. What about the underlying things that may get lost in the shuffle ahead of the final game before Super Bowl LVIII? Here are the stats of the weird for the Detroit Lions and San Francisco 49ers ahead of the 58th NFC Championship.

The Detroit Lions are the only NFC team yet to win the NFC Championship and appear in a Super Bowl. However, winning the game will put the Lions in a tie for the fourth-best winning percentage in the history of the game at .500.

Conversely, no team has played in the NFC Championship as many times as the San Francisco 49ers. The 49ers have now reached the game 19 times. However, San Fransisco has lost 11 of them, more than any other team, giving the franchise the third-worst winning percentage in the conference. If Detroit wins, that mark would fall to the second-worst.

Eight of the 16 NFC teams won their first NFC championship games. The Lions and 49ers both lost their first attempts in the contest. However, of the eight to lose their first NFC Championship, four won in their second chance. The 49ers are not one of those teams. The Lions, with a win, would be the fifth team to do so.

The NFC North is the worst division in the NFC Championship, holding a .308 winning percentage. The San Francisco 49ers are 4-1 against the NFC North in the NFC Championship.

The 49ers extend their record with an 11th home NFC Conference game. They are 5-5 all-time at home in the NFC Championship. Their only loss to an NFC North team came at home against the Green Bay Packers in the 1997 season.

Conversely, the Lions are the only NFC team yet to host an NFC Championship.

The 49ers are 3-3 when allowing 20+ points in the NFC Championship. They are 1-1 when allowing 28 or more.

At the kickoff of the NFC Championship game this weekend, the Lions will pass off the longest drought without an NFC Championship appearance to the team they lost to in the 1991 playoffs, the Washington Commanders.

If the Lions lose, they'll retain the longest current streak of consecutive years without an NFC Championship win. If they win, that record will also go to the Washington Commanders.

The Lions and 49ers have only played in one other post-merger playoff game. The 49ers hosted the Lions in 1983, winning 24-23. The 49ers lost in the NFC Championship to the Washington Commanders.

Prior to the merger, the Lions beat the 49ers in San Fransisco, 31-27, in 1957 in their only other playoff game. The Lions went on to win the NFL Championship 59-14 over the Cleveland Browns for their fourth and final NFL Championship.

The San Fransisco 49ers are the only team the Detroit Lions have ever beaten on the road in the playoffs, excluding the 1952 NFL Championship game against the Cleveland Browns. The Lions have never won a playoff game on the road post-merger.

The Lions are 27-38-1 against the 49ers all-time. The Lions have won just one game in their past 12 meetings with the 49ers dating back to 1996. That was in 2015, a 32-17 win in Detroit.

The Lions are 9-23-1 against the 49ers on the road all-time. The Lions haven't won a game in San Fransisco since 1975, a 28-17 victory.

Dan Campbell as a player was 1-3 against the 49ers. As a coach, he's 0-1, losing 41-33 at home in 2021. 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan is 2-0 against the Lions.

Jared Goff is 3-6 against the 49ers all-time. He's lost his last 5 against San Francisco. He's thrown for 1,918 yards, 17 touchdowns and 7 interceptions against the 49ers in his career.

49ers quarterback Brock Purdy has never started a game against the Detroit Lions. He's 1-1 against the NFC North including the playoffs with the 49ers win over Green Bay in the 2023 Divisional Round.