Shocking playoff exit could mark beginning of end for Lions' revival, Super Bowl quest

The Detroit Lions have enjoyed an exhilarating renaissance that’s mirrored their city’s. Unfortunately, a return to the dark ages might be unavoidable.

The NFC’s top-seeded team was ambushed 45-31 at Ford Field Saturday night by the Washington Commanders. A season that often seemed destined to conclude with, at minimum, the first Super Sunday appearance by the only NFL team that’s existed for the entirety of the Super Bowl era (since 1966) but never played on the league’s grandest stage has morphed from unforgettable to unfathomable.

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 or the 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,” head coach Dan Campbell said after the loss, barely able to suppress his emotions by the end of his postgame news conference.

By the end, a coach who unfailingly wears his heart on his sleeve, could barely manage to muster: “It’s my fault."

That'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, likely to take his high-flying offense – most of the time, anyway – 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 night, with so many others betwixt.

Yet aside from the X’s and O’s, Glenn and Johnson have had so much to do with 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, Detroit has never relished Lions teams like these.

And it’s not just a qualitative feeling.

The Lions won the NFC North two years running, having never worn the crown prior to the 2023 season. They had never been the conference’s No. 1 seed before this season nor won 15 regular-season games (or even 13 for that matter). They’d 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 better 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.)

But teams that live by the sword – whether it be the incessant fourth-down attempts or trick plays, like the interception thrown by wideout Jameson Williams on Saturday night – well, ya know. And this may be the zenith for this squad.

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 back-to-back AFC championship games in 2009 and ’10? The NYJ haven’t been back to the playoffs since. Remember when the 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. But 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 Saturday night, the Lions joined the Green Bay Packers and Minnesota Vikings 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.

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Follow USA TODAY Sports' Nate Davis on X, formerly Twitter, @ByNateDavis.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Detroit Lions' playoff loss could beginning of end for team's revival