Mitch Albom: Detroit Lions' dream ends with an improbable defeat in playoffs
Dreams, the poets warn, are fragile things, torn apart like butterfly wings. You could hear the first cries of those wings being plucked early Saturday night at Ford Field, when Amik Robertson lay flat on the turf, wincing in pain with a broken arm.
An unexpected silence fell over the sellout crowd. It was too early for concern, it seemed, just minutes into the game. Yet somehow, as Robertson was helped into the tunnel, fighting tears, you got the first sense that something might go wrong with Detroit’s dewy dream of football dominance.
Call it a premonition. Bad juju. It wasn’t over then.
But it’s over now.
Dream, deferred. Final score: Washington 45, Detroit 31. We will have to wait another year for Detroit’s football fantasy. This one — the best season in Lions history — just melted in the playoffs like a candle in a furnace.
“We had everything we wanted,” lamented a clearly shaken Jared Goff said after the stunning upset that saw him turn the ball over four times, and ended the Lions' hopes of a first-ever Super Bowl. “Homefield advantage. Fans were incredible. Unfortunately, we just let it slip out of our hands.”
And into the hands of the other team. On a night when both offenses were like teenagers tossing firecrackers on the Fourth of July, the Commanders had more matches and made far fewer mistakes.
They didn’t always stop the Lions. But the Lions stopped themselves. Goff fumbled away one promising drive, and killed two others with uncharacteristic interceptions, one of which Washington returned for a touchdown.
“You turn the ball over five times. …” said coach Dan Campbell, choking back the emotion, “it's just too much. It's too hard against the team like that to come back.”
Meanwhile Jayden Daniels, Washington’s rookie QB, was playing as blessedly as a child born when the church bells chimed. He threw for 299 yards, two touchdowns, ran for 51 yards and was never sacked. He spent much of the game grinning, leaning back on the bench, sometimes even looking like he was enjoying this whole thing like a fan.
Why not? Every time his team needed a play, he made it, or a teammate did — on offense or defense. The Commanders converted third downs, fourth downs and touchdowns. Their drives ended with sixes, not threes. They would chalk up 45 points, nearly 500 yards of offense, and punt exactly once.
“Fortunately, for us,” Dan Quinn, the Commanders coach, said afterwards, “the ball was the deciding factor.”
Yes. It kept winding up in their hands. And in the Lions’ end zone.
Dream, deferred.
Daniels exposes defense
By the final gun, Ford Field was half-empty, the deafening crowd was a memory, and some remaining fans sat in disbelief, their chins in their hands. This was hardly the outcome our city was hoping for, or in some cases, was certain of. A 15-2 record and a No. 1 seed falling to a wild-card team, with a quarterback who still hasn't finished his rookie season? When does that happen?
In nightmares.
“I’m just numb,” said Alex Anzalone, standing half-dressed in the Lions locker room. “It sucks. The whole fan base has your back no matter what, and I know they will (now), but to go 15-2 and have Super Bowl expectations, and now the team’s gonna be different next year, the coaches are gonna be different, and that’s what stinks about all of it. You don’t know who is gonna be here next year. But this team is only gonna be here now.”
Well, then, let us state the obvious about this team: It could not stop the Commanders. The Lions gave up 31 points in the first half alone. Aaron Glenn’s defense, wounded so much of the season, finally had its head cut off Saturday night. It died watching Daniels dance away untouched, or throwing long bombs, or destiny-kissed lobs.
The Commanders rattled off seemingly countless chunk plays that left Detroit gasping, gaping, and finally, choking. A 42-yard bomb to Dyami Brown, so wide open, he could have ordered lunch. A moon ball to Brown that fell into his hands for 38 yards. A quick out to Terry McLaurin, who split defenders and raced down the sidelines for a 58-yard TD. An Austin Ekeler run for 35 yards.
The Lions' pattern of blitzing and playing man-to-man defense was chewed up like a kid’s homework in a dog’s mouth. Some of it was the absence of Robertson, who was being counted on for his smothering coverage. Kindle Vindor was not a great substitute and was often on the wrong end of big plays.
But the Lions have to be more than one player — and they have been all year. More likely, this was the cumulative effect of way too many mistakes, no pass rush, and too much time for a confident quarterback to have his way.
Incredibly, Daniels, last year’s second pick in the NFL draft, will be playing for the NFC championship next week and the right to go to the Super Bowl.
And just as incredibly, the Lions will not.
Haunting moments for Lions
“It’s a humbling game, it’s a humbling sport,” said Goff, who turned in maybe his worst performance of the season, going 23 of 40 with more picks (three) and sacks (two) than touchdowns (one). Admirably, he took plenty of blame for the sunken performance, even when, like his teammates, he still seemed shell-shocked.
“I’ll beat myself up a lot,” he said. “… We were on the top of the world after that Minnesota game. It’s hard standing here right now and trying to process it all.”
There were so many moments that will haunt from this performance. And because we are in the news business, we are obliged to detail some of them. Cover your eyes, if you like.
There was Goff’s first interception, in the second period, a bad overthrow that became a pick six. On the return, Washington linebacker Frankie Luvu hit Goff in an apparent helmet-to-helmet hit that knocked the Detroit quarterback into the air and onto his rump. It should have been a penalty. But it wasn’t called. And the play stood.
There was Goff’s second interception, late in the first half, a forced pass into the end zone that was snagged by, of all people, former Michigan star Mike Sainristil. Come on! That’s just not fair! We LIKE that guy!
Even worse, Sainristil came back in the fourth quarter and intercepted a pass by Jameson Williams on a trick play. And when Jamo is throwing interceptions, you know the night is cursed.
There was also this: fourth quarter, a Washington fourth-and-2 at the Lions 5-yard line. The crowd was roaring, desperate for a stop, knowing this could be it. But Detroit was called for a penalty — too many men on the field — which gave the Commanders an automatic first down.
Too many men? On a critical fourth down? What happened?
“It was my fault,” Campbell croaked afterwards. “It was my fault.”
Washington took it in moments later for a 38-28 lead.
It wasn’t over.
But it was over.
Dream, deferred.
No progress for Lions
“There’s plenty of blame to go around,” said Taylor Decker, who stood up for Goff and reminded people the Lions wouldn’t be where they were without him. “Ultimately they just executed better than we did. We weren’t as polished as we normally are. We were moving the ball, but ultimately the turnovers, especially in the red zone, are gonna kill you.”
And that’s how this feels, like something was killed, and something inspiring died. It hurts for Campbell, who threw his heart, soul and vocal cords into the year. It hurts for Goff, who will no doubt have this poor night shade his otherwise fantastic season.
It hurts for guys like Anzalone and Robertson and David Montgomery and many others who battled back from injuries so they could be playing in the postseason, only to see their postseason over in a nanosecond.
And it hurts, of course, for the Detroit fans, who were hoping for three magical wins and a parade. Instead, they get one stinging loss and a freezing cold day after. People will be making comparisons to last year, and you must admit, this is a step backwards. The playoffs, not the regular season, are all that matter in the NFL, and Detroit won two playoff games last year and had a 17-point halftime lead in the NFC championship.
This year, they lost the lead in their only playoff game midway through the second quarter, and never got it back.
I don’t care what you want to call that. But it ain’t progress. And anyone who thinks the Lions are an automatic to reach these same heights next year, well, take a look at the San Francisco 49ers, who were in the Super Bowl last February and are already golfing now. Windows open. Windows close.
You can blame injuries. You can blame a hot opponent. You can blame the turnovers (I’d start there). You can blame a stubborn approach to defense that worked all year until it didn’t. Whatever the culprit, the season is the victim. And it was a great season, an inspiring season, a season that stirred the fires of this football town to heights nobody who wasn’t alive in the 1950s could recall.
Until the end.
When asked if he could summarize the season, a dejected Campbell said: “Can’t do that right now. And I told the team that. … 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, 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.”
That about says it all. “We want more” was the mantra for this postseason. But Washington did, too. The Commanders were better Saturday night. And in football, the better team gets to take your hopes and stomp them in the tunnel on their way out. It hurts. No surprise. It’s supposed to hurt when someone plucks your wings.
Dream, deferred. Is it too early to think about September? Or just too painful?
Contact Mitch Albom: malbom@freepress.com. Check out the latest updates with his charities, books and events at MitchAlbom.com. Follow him @mitchalbom.