Making the playoffs was a big day for the Detroit Lions for the majority of a century.
All of a sudden, it has become outdated.
The Lions only participated in 13 postseason games over the following 75 seasons after capturing their final NFL championship in 1957. They only triumphed once, against the Dallas Cowboys, 38–6 in 1991.
Last season, everything changed. The Lions defeated Tampa Bay 31-23 a week after defeating the Rams 24-23 on January 14. At the half, they had a 24-7 lead in the NFC championship game, but the 49ers came back to win 34-31.
It has been much better this year. The Lions defeated Green Bay 34-31 a week after defeating the Chicago Bears on Thanksgiving to improve to 12-1 and secure their second consecutive postseason appearance, the first since they did so three years in a row from 1993 to 1995.
After defeating the Packers, coach Dan Campbell was unaware that his team had guaranteed a postseason berth.
He remarked, “I just found that out — I didn’t even realize,” following the match. It’s good. It’s good, but we want to get in a different approach because we only have four (games) remaining. We want to find a means to obtain this one seed on our terms. That is the top priority.
The players may have noticed “Playoffs Clinched” shown on the scoreboards after the game, but Campbell was so unaware of securing a position that he didn’t even bring it up to them.
“I wish I had told the team, but I had no idea,” he stated. “To be honest, I believe they are aware. They have the same feelings as me. We know what we want to do, but we can still give each other the traditional golf clap.
Following Campbell into the interview room, Jared Goff concurred with his coach.
“I just heard that,” he uttered. Although it’s kind of cool, it’s definitely not what we want to achieve in the end. We still have more work to do, but we aim to win this division.”
What’s working
Finding something that isn’t working is difficult when you’re 12-1 and on an 11-game winning streak. However, the Lions’ offense has been outstanding. Ten games in a row, including six over 30, four over 40, and two over 50, have seen them score at least 23 points. They rank fourth in terms of both passing touchdowns (27) and running touchdowns (22) and lead the league in scoring (32.1 points per game).
What needs help
Despite having the second-best scoring defense in the league (18.0 points per game), the Lions are beginning to suffer from injuries. The Packers were the first team this season to score 30 points against Detroit, and Jordan Love averaged 10.3 yards per attempt and 17.2 yards per completion on Thursday, both of which were season-worsts for the defense.
On Thursday night, seven Lions defenders recorded a quarterback hit. The other six players—Al-Quadin Muhammad, Myles Adams, Trevor Nowaske, Za’Darius Smith, Ezekiel Turner, and Jonah Williams—have joined the team during the regular season to replace injured players, but linebacker Jack Campbell, a 2023 first-round pick, has been a mainstay on the Detroit defense.
Stock up
Terrion Arnold, a rookie cornerback, had a difficult day, which included another pass-interference penalty in the end zone that resulted in the loss of a Lions interception. He is averaging 0.6 passes defended per game and has not had an interception in his 12-game career.
Stock down
In addition to losing star defensive tackle Alim McNeill to a brain injury, the Lions were down eleven defensive linemen and linebackers against the Packers. The availability of McNeill, Levi Onwuzurike (hamstring), Josh Paschal (knee), and D.J. Reader (shoulder) to play against Buffalo on December 15 is uncertain, but the majority of those players are on injured reserve.
Key number
More than any other NFL team, the Lions have 18 players on injured reserve. Running out of healthy guys outside of the defensive front seven will be their biggest obstacle between now and the Super Bowl.
Next steps
With a demanding week ahead, get as much rest and recuperation as you can.
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