The Detroit Lions have enjoyed an exhilarating renaissance which has mirrored their city’s. Unfortunately, a return to the football dark ages might be unavoidable.
The Lions just couldn’t stop the bleeding, whether it was trying to contain Washington wunderkind Jayden Daniels and an offense that only punted once to their litany of self-inflicted wounds – namely five turnovers on a night when the Commanders had none.
“We just didn’t play good enough. We never complemented each other – felt that way going into halftime, and it really never got better,” Detroit head coach Dan Campbell said after the searing loss, barely able to suppress his emotions at the conclusion of his postgame news conference.
By the end, a man who unfailingly wears his heart on his sleeve, could barely manage to muster: “It’s my fault.’
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Whether or not that’s true, it’s probably not the worst part.
In the coming days, Detroit’s coordinators – Ben Johnson (offense) and Aaron Glenn (defense) – will almost certainly leave for head coaching jobs in other NFL cities. Johnson, who’s resisted such a move for years, could be the prize of this coaching cycle, packing up his high-flying offense – most of the time, anyway – for wherever he goes next. Glenn’s unit wasn’t able to slow the Commanders, but it’s a testament to his skills as a motivator and tactician that the Lions got this far given the cascade of injuries Detroit suffered defensively – from Aidan Hutchinson in Week 6 to Amik Robertson on Saturday, with so many others in between.
‘I don’t want to see him gone, but he’s one helluva coach,’ Pro Bowl defensive back Brian Branch said Thursday on NFL Network’s ‘The Insiders’ when asked about the likelihood of Glenn’s imminent departure.
And aside from the X’s and O’s, Glenn and Johnson have been intrinsic to what’s become this organization’s touchstone: Its culture. Whether it’s the grit Campbell constantly cites, to the toughness throughout the roster, to the swagger this offense typically plays with, Motown has never relished Lions teams like these.
And it’s not just a qualitative feeling.
Detroit has won the NFC North two years running, having never worn the crown prior to the 2023 season. The team had never been the conference’s No. 1 seed before this season nor won 15 regular-season games (or even 13 for that matter). The Lions never had back-to-back seasons with double-digit victories. And 564 points scored with a differential of 222? Both franchise records.
Simply put, the Lions have never been more captivating nor more fun to watch and root for if you’re a Detroiter.
Campbell and Co. may not exactly be going back to Square One in 2025 – and getting studs like Hutchinson and defensive lineman Alim McNeill back will most definitely help – but they didn’t pass go or collect that long-awaited Lombardi Trophy, either. (Nor did they last year, when Campbell’s decision-making at the end of the 2023 NFC championship game, which the Lions lost to the San Francisco 49ers after blowing a 17-point halftime lead, was roundly criticized.)
Quarterback Jared Goff was especially regretful of his first-half pick-six to Quan Martin that put the Lions into a 10-point hole five minutes before halftime.
‘That was just a poor decision by me,’ he said.
Detroit’s five giveaways led directly to three Washington touchdowns, the other two coming at the end of each half.
Added Goff: ‘Had I played better, do we win? Possibly. And that’s the part that’ll eat me alive for the whole offseason.’
But teams that live by the sword – whether it be the incessant fourth-down attempts or trick plays, like the one that resulted in an interception thrown by Lions wideout Jameson Williams on Saturday – well, ya know.
‘Unfortunate, obviously. Sucks. Sucks. Worst part of this job. You hate it when you feel like you let guys down, and you want to win these type of games at home,’ said Goff, who fumbled and served up three interceptions, one occurring in the end zone when Detroit seemed to be driving for a touchdown that would’ve cut the Commanders’ halftime lead to 31-28.
‘Hard to put into words.’
Yet these may be the toughest words of all: This might have been the zenith for this crew.
Teams like the Lions sometimes catch lightning in a bottle, but then it’s gone in a thunderclap. Remember when the Cleveland Browns reached consecutive AFC title games against the Denver Broncos but lost on “The Drive” and then “The Fumble”? Remember when Rex Ryan, another coach who leveraged culture until he couldn’t, led the New York Jets to successive AFC championship games in 2009 and ’10? (The NYJ haven’t been back to the playoffs since.) Remember when the apparently ascending Jacksonville Jaguars were one win from the Super Bowl with Blake Bortles behind center? Remember when Houston … eh, never mind.
Campbell has been a force of nature with the Lions since his introductory news conference four years ago. If anyone can repair the sizable cracks seemingly forming in the impressive foundation that he’s laid, it’s him.
‘He’s our rock, man, he is,’ Goff said of his coach Saturday, the quarterback clearly stung by his personal belief that he’d let Campbell down.
‘We feed off his emotion and his energy. He believes in us, and he loves us, and he cares for us.’
Luckily for the Lions (and their fans), Campbell isn’t going anywhere. But his club’s continuity – so often such a key and underrated aspect of success in the NFL, whether it be schematically or philosophically – is going to be a huge challenge to maintain when you have to replace trusted lieutenants like Johnson and Glenn simultaneously, particularly in a division that sent two other teams into the playoffs this season. But now the Lions have joined the Green Bay Packers and Minnesota Vikings, both coalescing into rising powers in their own right, as one-and-done postseason outfits.
“End of the day, man, I didn’t have ‘em ready,” said Campbell.
And that’s likely only to get much harder in the coming months. And maybe even years.
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Follow USA TODAY Sports’ Nate Davis on X, formerly Twitter, @ByNateDavis.
