DETROIT — Two very different scenes unfolded simultaneously just before midnight Saturday.
There was the joy and pure exhilaration of an extended season on the Washington side. The buzz of an overachieving team that wasn’t supposed to be there was palpable. Hugs and beaming smiles filled the hallways outside the Commanders’ locker room. And for good reason.
And then there was the other side. The losing side. There is devastation there. Desolation. A numbness from it all. The few remaining players had to describe what had just happened, while the winners next door celebrated loud enough for them to hear.
Dan Campbell said a few weeks ago that no one is writing the history of his Detroit Lions team. Ultimately, this was his final chapter.
“It’ll probably bother me forever, honestly,” Lions left tackle Taylor Decker said of his team’s 45-31 loss to the Washington Commanders. “I walk here in the locker room and you have to hear them cheering. And rightfully so for them. They deserve to be applauded. We just have to sit here and listen to it.
“It sucks,” lineman Dan Skipper said. “Last year he saw all the confetti, and this year he hears this. It’s rubbish.
GO DEEPER
The Commanders are one win away from the Super Bowl. Let it marinate a little
Just under 12 months ago, Dan Campbell and these Lions advanced to the NFC Championship Game in their first playoff series together and lost. They blew a 24-7 lead, which makes it even harder to accept.
After the game, Campbell, who had been in this league for 25 years as a player and coach, had seen too much to assure his players they would be back. He tried to contextualize the missed moment by speaking to his team. He did it straightforwardly.
“Look, I told these guys this might be our only chance,” Campbell said on Jan. 29, 2024. “Do I think that? No. Do I believe it? No, but I know how difficult it is to get here. I am well aware of this. And it’s going to be twice as hard to get back to this point next year. This is reality.
Even with another division title under their belt. Even with a first-round bye, a home game and a bye week. Even after a 15-2 season and the most wins in franchise history, Campbell’s words ultimately proved true.
Before the playoffs, it was obvious that this was not the same Lions team that started the year. It’s worth mentioning the injuries this team suffered – and a few more were suffered tonight. But even when the Lions were shorthanded, they still had an identity that took them far.
They kept their cool. They chose their place. They played complementary football. They made some timely plays. They dominated their opponents. They forced teams to adapt them. In their biggest game of the season, they did none of that.
It’s tough to get to where the Lions were last year. But in this game, they made it more difficult for themselves.
“It was just one of those weird days,” Campbell said. “Things were a little bad.”
Things started off pretty well. The Lions, trailing 7-3 in the first quarter, moved the ball at will against the Commanders. Against a team like this, you want to set the tone – not let the opponent dictate the play in your building. The Lions have an offense capable of that. Taking a 14-3 lead in the second quarter would have gone a long way toward achieving that. They certainly had their chance.
On third-and-1 from the Washington 17, the Lions showed a look with David Montgomery next to Jared Goff in shotgun. We’ve seen Montgomery, who has been recovering from an MCL injury, convert down the field in short-yardage situations like this all season long, behind one of the best offensive lines in the league . Instead, Montgomery largely separated himself. The Lions remained empty.
Goff fumbled. The Commanders rallied, then took a 10-7 lead. An unusual call that led to Detroit’s demise.
Commanders undress ‼️
📺: #WASvsDET on FOX
📱: Stream on @NFLPlus pic.twitter.com/xl3a5B1Jsh– NFL (@NFL) January 19, 2025
If you believe in momentum, this can be considered a seismic shift. Instead of a potential 11-point lead, the Lions trailed by 3.
The errors continued. A few drives after this fumble, Goff threw a pass intended for Tim Patrick for a Washington pick-6. With the ball at the Washington 30, trailing 10 before halftime, Goff threw another interception to keep the Lions from getting points. Five turnovers for Detroit – four of them by Goff. A team won’t win too many games like that.
Detroit looked like a team that was pressing. The most obvious example occurred in the fourth quarter. With their season on the line, down 38-28, Lions offensive coordinator Ben Johnson called wide receiver Jameson Williams. He had scored one earlier in the match. But this time, the room was asking him to pass. It was doomed from the start.
The Lions were flagged for an ineligible man on the field. Media coverage of the play from Washington was strong. Instead of throwing the ball or tucking it and running, Williams threw it. The Commanders intercepted it, then scored to go up 17 – a lead that proved insurmountable.
Johnson likes to say the well is deep when asked about his bag of tricks. This was the one he should have kept at the bottom.
IT’S 2 FOR @MikeSainristil❕
📺 #WASvsDET FOXpic.twitter.com/D8S9ddhdsi
– Washington Commanders (@Commanders) January 19, 2025
When trailing in games, Campbell preaches the importance of taking things one play at a time. However, tonight the Lions played like a team that wanted to get everything back in one play. They did too much, way too much.
On Williams’ interception, the Lions trailed 10 with 12:13 remaining. The pressure was high, but it was manageable. There were checks and underneath throws to take them throughout the match. They ran the ball efficiently, finishing with 201 yards. Putting the ball in the hands of Williams – a talented young player with questionable judgment and decision-making – and asking him to throw it was one of the most puzzling decisions of the season.
Complementary football eluded the Lions on Saturday night. When the defense needed the offense to get its rhythm back, a costly turnover set it back. When the offense needed to be stopped, the defense couldn’t get off the field.
Detroit spent the year living in man coverage with a heavy dose of blitzing – defensive coordinator Aaron Glenn’s preferred style. He led the league in man coverage rate and had the third-highest blitz rate in the regular season, according to TruMedia. Daniels, on the other hand, is a quarterback who can run when corners and linebackers have their backs to him against the man. And against the blitz, Daniels’ 0.31 EPA per drop ranked second among qualifying QBs in the regular season.
Something had to give. Detroit’s defense gave a lot.
Daniels was blitzed on 16 of his 31 pass attempts, according to Next Gen Stats. He completed 12 of those 16 attempts for 191 of his 299 yards and a touchdown. Facing pressure, Daniels went 7 of 9 for 109 yards. He was never sacked. He added 51 yards on the ground.
Overall, the Lions defense allowed 481 yards on 6.6 yards per play and 38 scores. They had no answers for Daniels – who doesn’t look like a rookie. Washington’s offense placed itself in favorable positions throughout the game, setting up short and easy conversion attempts. The Lions had to watch an opponent beat them in their own game.
The Commanders were fourth and second to the Detroit 16, up 31-28 at the end of the third quarter. The Lions desperately needed a stop, and if they got one, they would give the ball back to their offense down three. But rookie corner Terrion Arnold was caught peeking into the backfield during the play. Daniels kept it on a bootleg to Arnold’s side of the field and picked up 3 yards and the first down .
Jayden recovers first at 4th and 2nd!
📺: #WASvsDET on FOX
📱: Stream on @NFLPlus pic.twitter.com/O7F8EQfia1– NFL (@NFL) January 19, 2025
The Commanders went 3 of 4 on fourth down and seemed to wear down Detroit’s defense. There is a mental component to being so aggressive. The Lions know this well. They’re just not used to other teams doing this to them. It was as if it shook them.
On that same drive, the Commanders had another fourth-and-2 attempt – this time from the Detroit 5, down 31-28. Before the ball was snapped, they were reported to have 12 men on the field. Thanks to injuries suffered in the secondary, they traded special teams and defensive backs on the back end. They were clearly confused. This is a situation where the coaching staff should have taken over. Some defensive coaches on Detroit’s sidelines were yelling over the mistake, begging for time to regroup.
But Campbell didn’t call a timeout. The Lions were penalized. Washington picked up the first down on penalty yards gained, then scored two plays later.
Maybe the commanders would have finally gotten him back. But Detroit didn’t have to serve him up on such a silver platter. Mistakes like this, even more than fourth-down attempts that fail, are ones that Campbell simply has to grow out of. It was a mistake from the first year of the fourth year with a competitor. The Lions were simply undercoached.
“It was my fault,” Campbell said when asked about the penalty. “It’s my fault.”
After the game, Campbell couldn’t put this year into perspective. A 15-2 season ended abruptly. How Detroit lost will undoubtedly affect how this season will be viewed. It wasn’t them. And they know it.
Things might be different in the future. The Lions could lose both coordinators – Johnson and Glenn. These are two of the coaches that Campbell built this thing with. If they both leave, having to replace two key minds like that in one offseason is no small task. Even worse on paper, the Lions will play a nine-game road schedule in 2025 and seven of those opponents – the Packers, Vikings, Chiefs, Ravens, Eagles, Rams and Commanders – have made the playoffs. in 2024.
Campbell’s biggest challenge as a head coach lies ahead. How the Lions respond and where they go from there is all that matters now.
Their 2024 story is over.
“This is not the time to talk about ‘What a great year’ or how many wins,” said Campbell, still dealing with defeat. “Because right now, I don’t think any of us feel that way. The whole point of doing what you do is to go to the show, man. That’s why you play this game. And we didn’t succeed. »
(Photo: Lon Horwedel / Imagn Images)
