With 24 seconds left in a game already out of reach, Detroit Lions quarterback Jared Goff threw his third interception. The pick was the fourth for Detroit and the Lions’ fifth turnover of the game.
For a Lions team whose offense — arguably the best in the NFL — propelled it to the NFC’s No. 1 seed in the regular season, the turnovers were too much to overcome in a surprising 45-31 NFC divisional-round loss to the Washington Commanders on Saturday.
The Commanders, who came in with the NFL’s fifth-best scoring offense, scored three touchdowns off those five turnovers. The Lions defense had very few answers for the Washington offense. The Lions gave up the third-most yards (481) they had all season to the Commanders, who took advantage of nearly all of Detroit’s mistakes. Those miscues included some bad throws from Goff that led to interceptions and a pick thrown by receiver Jameson Williams on a busted trick play.
After a 15-2 regular season, Detroit went from Super Bowl favorite to the offseason in a few hours.
“We just didn’t get it done. I wish I had a better answer,” coach Dan Campbell said. “It will be something that I’m going to have a lot of time here to really look at it, think about and figure it out. How do we improve? What do we need to fix? The what’s, the why’s, all of it.”
No answers for Daniels
Detroit’s worst game of the season couldn’t have come at a worse time. It happened in the playoffs, at home, in their playoff debut. Their season is now over. The Lions had no answers for rookie quarterback Jayden Daniels, who was simply sensational. They couldn’t rattle him. They couldn’t break him. He kept his composure and gashed this defense all night long.
On the ground, the Lions allowed 183 rushing yards. And despite the injuries, the Lions were outcoached with the guys they did have at their disposal. Blitzing Daniels did not work. The Lions had an inexcusable 12-men-on-the-field penalty right before an all-important fourth-down, which gave Washington an automatic first down. The Commanders scored shortly thereafter. They did everything they needed to do and more en route to scoring 45 points. — Colton Pouncy, Lions beat writer
Where was the NFL’s top offense?
Though few predicted a 45-point outburst by Washington, we did know the Lions’ offense would need to be the catalyst. It wasn’t.
Goff made poor decisions, trying to play hero ball when a lead was still within reach. The offense turned the ball over five times — including a strip-sack on third-and-1 deep in Washington territory. Down 10 right before the half and in need of points, the offense was moving, but Goff went for it all in the end zone. The ball was picked off.
“We just didn’t play great. … At the end of the day, I didn’t have them ready,” Campbell said.
With time left to get back in the game, an end-around pass attempt by Williams resulted in an interception. Letting Williams, a talented young player with a history of questionable decision-making, make a decision like that with the season on the line was, well, questionable.
It’s hard to tell how healthy David Montgomery was, but his ground-and-pound ability would’ve been helpful in a game where Washington scored at will. Obviously, Detroit was forced to play catch-up and pass, but much of its issues were self-inflicted. The Lions will be thinking about this missed opportunity for years to come. — Pouncy
What’s next for Detroit?
This looked like the year they could do it. But this team ran out of gas. Coordinators Aaron Glenn and Ben Johnson have been interviewing for other jobs. They could both move on and perhaps take some assistants with them. The team will get some key players back, but some, including Carlton Davis and Kevin Zeitler, could depart in free agency.
The Lions have a road schedule in 2025 that features games against the Eagles, Ravens, Rams, Bengals, Kansas City and this very Commanders team — one that should only be better. How will the Lions respond? How will Campbell pick up the pieces? These are questions most thought would come later. Not now. But that’s the NFL. — Pouncy
