It was the worst possible playoff appearance for the Detroit Lions against the Washington Commanders on Saturday, January 18, at Ford Field. From a whopping turnovers to Lions franchise quarterback Jared Goff getting injured, one bad thing happened after the next thing. The result was a 45-31 loss to the Commanders on home turf, which wasn’t a good look.
Detroit is heartbroken. Not only did the team lose in the NFC Championship game last season, preventing the franchise’s first-ever trip to the Super Bowl, but now, it’s looking like their only shot to get back to the Super Bowl is over. Next season will look very different, with both offensive coordinator Ben Johnson and defensive coordinator Aaron Glenn looking at head coaching opportunities.
Lions Head Coach Dan Campbell Tears Up
After the game, Detroit Lions head coach Dan Campbell and his crew were understandably upset.
“We just didn’t play great, and I mentioned we didn’t complement each other and that’s the same thing. At the end of the day, I didn’t have them ready,” Campbell said per ESPN, during a postgame press conference. “It’s hard to look at it.”
Goff seemed like a deer caught in headlights.
“I’m still kind of processing this. I’m going to have some hard nights coming up unfortunately,” he said. “It’s hard. I wish I could give you guys a better answer right now. It’s disappointing. It’s hard. We had everything we wanted. Home field advantage, the fans were incredible and unfortunately, we just let it slip out of our hands.”
Campbell added that is really hurts to lose. Of course it does. Detroit had their hearts in to it.
“No. It just hurts to lose, man, and I don’t care if you’re the seven seed, six seed, five seed, one seed, because I’ve lost at all of them damn near and it stings,” Campbell said. “And it hurts … it hurts.”
When Is Detroit’s Time? Dan Campbell Thinks It Wasn’t Now
Campbell added that he just thinks it wasn’t Detroit time. But, the question is, when it Detroit’s time? They’ve been a team for decades and have still never been to the Super Bowl. It’s sad, and fans are livid.
“No. I just think it’s just not the time, man. It’s hard when you lose, and you lose these games, man,” Campbell said, tearing up. “It’s like the players, what they put into it. A lot of people don’t know what they go through. You have to get up, body’s beat to … mentally stay locked in and do those things, so long season.”
NFL expert and analyst Dan Wetzel of Yahoo Sports noted in a postgame piece published on January 19, “Maybe Detroit’s defense was too injury-riddled to ever win the Super Bowl, the rightful goal following an epic 15-2 regular season and a No. 1 seed in the NFC playoffs. But the Lions certainly weren’t going to be able to do it when their star quarterback was dragging them down with four total turnovers in the game.”
He added, “For Detroit though, where hope had become a reasonable emotion after generations of emptiness, one enduring question will emerge from the rubble of this collapse.”