“This loss isn’t about shortcomings. This is about playing bad football.”
Lions play-by-play radio man Dan Miller said that to boothmates Lomas Brown and T.J. Lang late in Saturday’s 45-31 loss to the Washington Commanders. As he often is, Miller was spot-on with his comment.
That was not the Detroit Lions team that roared to a 15-2 record and the No. 1 seed in the NFC. There were glimpses of that great team, especially on offense in the first half. But the strong consistency of greatness that dominated the Lions 2024 regular season–the best in franchise history–was nowhere to be found against the Commanders.
Five giveaways, four of which were meaningful, including a bad pick-six on a bad Jared Goff throw that he hadn’t missed all season. Missed blocks from the typically outstanding offensive line directly led to another one of those turnovers, the Goff lost fumble early. All-Pro safety Kerby Joseph had perhaps his worst game of the season at a very bad time. Goff too. Terrion Arnold struggled against the run, something the rookie corner had been very good at all season.
Too much bad football. It only takes one bad one to end what has otherwise been the most special Detroit Lions season of the Super Bowl era. There will be ample time to dissect personnel moves and coaching changes — changes that are going to come about out of other teams hiring away assistants, not the Lions firing anyone. This loss was one really bad game from an otherwise great team.
It’s not a loss that demands radical changes in personnel or approach for Detroit. It reflected a beat-up Lions team that didn’t play well and ran into a well-prepared and dangerously confident opponent in Washington. Too many key players didn’t have great games, and the Commanders are too good of a foe to expect to beat with a C-minus effort.
Remember, this is a team almost completely devoid of playoff experience and mettle, from the coaching staff down to the players. Most had just the three postseason games last year. It’s quite frustrating that the most experienced, most important player had a bad night, but Goff is the biggest reason why the Lions led the league in scoring. The ubiquitous “Ja-Red Goff” chants randomly breaking out everywhere shouldn’t instantly transform into “it’s time to move on from Goff” because of one rough outing. This team is better than that.
“This loss isn’t about shortcomings. This is about playing bad football.”
Such is the nature of one-game playoffs. The Lions had one bad half in San Francisco 12 months ago and now one rough night against Washington. It’s absolutely something that needs to be worked on, from the coaching staff to the players. This organization didn’t become Super Bowl favorites by overreacting, and there is no reason to think that will change. Not even in the face of a truly disheartening and humbling loss on Saturday night.