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Lions' dream season comes to crushing halt with playoff loss: 'It just ... sucks'
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- Lions' dream season comes to crushing halt with playoff loss: 'It just ... sucks'
An assistant equipment manager walked behind him as he talked, pulling the nameplates off every locker in the home dressing room, while outside in the hallway a few feet away members of the Washington Commanders ownership group stood on the other side of a black curtain cheering their team's victory.
Every hoot, every holler, every shout rang through the walls of the Detroit Lions locker room and drove a dagger through Dan Skipper 's heart.
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"I think we all, we make memories of things that you can (use) during those days of training camp, and this is definitely an audible memory that I'll remember," Skipper said. "Last year it was seeing all the confetti and this year it's hearing this for, what are we, an hour after the game? It sucks."
The Lions fell short of the Super Bowl for the 59th straight year Saturday, losing in crushing fashion to the Commanders , 45-31, at Ford Field.
Detroit Lions quarterback Jared Goff (16) looks down in the fourth quarter against the Washington Commanders in the NFC divisional round at Ford Field in Detroit on Saturday, Jan. 18, 2025.
The Lions won a franchise-record 15 games in the regular season – tied for most in the NFL – and earned the No. 1 seed in the NFC playoffs. They were fresh and rested coming off a first-round bye, and yet they had no answer for rookie quarterback Jayden Daniels and a Commanders team that played a lot like the Lions.
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LIONS GRADES VS COMMANDERS: Jared Goff, D disappoint in crushing loss
They ran the ball at will for 182 yards. They were fearless on fourth downs, converting 4 of 5 with all of their makes extending touchdown drives. And they picked apart the Lions' toothless, injury-riddled defense , punting once and piling up six touchdowns.
"At the end of the day, after all of this, the loss today, I still – I love the guys, and I respect them, and I appreciate everything they put into it," Lions coach Dan Campbell said. "But it's not the time to talk about what a great year or how many wins, because at this moment, I don't think any of us feel that way. The whole point of doing what you do is to get to the show, man. It's why you play this game, and we fell short. Short."
Campbell lamented his team's inability to play complementary football, speaking in a raspy voice and occasionally pausing to contain his emotions.
Detroit Lions fans react after the 45-31 loss to the Washington Commanders in the NFC divisional round of the NFL playoffs at Ford Field in Detroit on Saturday, Jan. 18, 2025.
The Lions jumped to an early 7-3 lead and had a chance to extend that late in the first quarter when they committed their first of five costly turnovers deep in Washington territory.
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Jared Goff took a short pass drop and looked to his right as his first read, Amon-Ra St. Brown , stumbled at the top of his route. Goff tried to step up in the pocket, but defensive lineman Dorance Armstrong swatted the ball out of his hands for a fumble Washington recovered.
Goff turned the ball over three more times on interceptions – one that Quan Martin returned 40 yards for a touchdown and two more in or near the Washington end zone – and wide receiver Jameson Williams threw a pick on an ill-advised end-around toss pass early in the fourth quarter.
The Commanders scored 21 points off the Lions turnovers, and didn't commit a turnover of their own.
"It sucks," Goff said. "Worst part of this job and you hate it when you feel like you let guys down."
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Daniels, the presumptive NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year, was as brilliant Saturday as Goff was bad, completing 22 of 31 passes for 299 yards and two touchdowns. He added 51 yards rushing and joined Joe Flacco and Mark Sanchez as the only rookie quarterbacks in the Super Bowl era to win two playoff games.
Washington Commanders quarterback Jayden Daniels looks to pass against the Detroit Lions in the first half of the NFC divisional round playoff game at Ford Field in Detroit on Saturday, Jan. 18, 2025.
Daniels threw a 5-yard touchdown pass to Zach Ertz to give Washington a 31-21 halftime lead, then answered a 91-yard Lions touchdown drive early in the second half with a 15-play, 70-yard scoring march that chewed 8:28 off the clock. The Commanders converted two fourth downs on the drive, including a fourth-and-2 from the Lions' 5-yard line when the Lions were flagged for having 12 defenders on the field.
Williams threw his interception on the next possession, and Jeremy McNichols followed with a 1-yard touchdown run to send Washington to the NFC championship game next week against the winner of Sunday's Philadelphia Eagles-Los Angeles Rams game.
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"He just has a different poise about him than most and he's a rare competitor," Commanders coach Dan Quinn said of Daniels. "If he was a basketball player, he'd want the last shot. As a ball player, he wants the ball in his hands to make the difference and he makes great decisions with the football and that takes real mindfulness."
Goff finished 23 of 40 passing for 313 yards and one touchdown, Jahmyr Gibbs added 105 yards rushing and two touchdowns, and Amon-Ra St. Brown had eight catches and 137 yards for a Lions team that fell short in its bid to become the first team to win a Super Bowl a season after losing in the NFC championship game since the 1995-96 Green Bay Packers .
The Lions blew a 17-point halftime lead in last year's NFC title game against the San Francisco 49ers , and head now into an uncertain offseason with most of their young nucleus is under contract but the potential to lose coordinators Ben Johnson and Aaron Glenn to head coaching jobs elsewhere.
"It sucks cause next thing up is OTAs," Skipper said. "Like, (expletive). I don't know that it's hit yet. It just (bleeping) sucks. That's kind of the only thing I can put into words right now is where we're at."
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Dave Birkett will sign copies of his new book, " Detroit Lions : An Illustrated Timeline," at 6:30 p.m. Monday at DC Sports in Sterling Heights. Order your copy here. Contact him at dbirkett@freepress.com . Follow him on Bluesky, X and Instagram at @davebirkett.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Detroit Lions' dream season comes to crushing halt with playoff loss
