The Detroit Lions have not won a championship of any sort since back in 1957. They have never been to a Super Bowl.
Detroit was looking to change that latter fact during Sunday’s NFC Championship Game against the San Francisco 49ers.
It was looking good for Dan Campbell’s squad with Detroit up 24-7 at halftime. Detroit had dominated San Francisco’s offense to the tune of 280 total yards and 18 first downs in the first half alone.
That’s when everything went to hell for Campbell and the Lions. San Francisco opened up the third quarter with a field goal to pull the team within 14 points.
Campbell’s Lions would drive down the field and into field goal range on their next possession. But instead of kicking the field goal for a three-score lead, Campbell opted to go for it on 4th-and-2. The end result was a failed conversion.
San Francisco would then go on to score three unanswered touchdowns to take a 34-24 lead, absolutely dominating Detroit’s defense in the process.
Brock Purdy was a man on a mission. Jared Goff struggled getting anything going for Detroit. A game that started out with Detroit Lions fans in Michigan partying like it was the 1950s concluded with yet another postseason failure for the upstart organization.
Detroit entered the playoffs as a feel-good story. After wins over the Los Angeles Rams and Tampa Bay Buccaneers to open the postseason, expectations were incredibly high despite Detroit finding itself as touchdown underdogs against the top seed in the NFC.
Related: Ranking the 5 best Detroit Lions teams of all-time
For Detroit Lions, NFC Championship Game performance was not good enough
Down 34-24 late in the fourth quarter, Detroit did drive down the field to make this a three-point game. But once the onside kick failed, reality set it. Losing by three points to one of the best teams in the NFL will not create shame in Detroit.
However, this team was so darn close to punching its ticket to a first ever Super Bowl — only to come up absolutely small.
In the process, Detroit became just the second team in NFC Championship Game history to blow a 17-point lead.
We get it. The Lions have morphed into an absolute juggernaut under Campbell. They were a darling of the football and media world heading into the NFC Championship Game.
All that as an aside, the Lions came up small when it counted the most. This has been the story of the franchise since they won their last title back in 1957.
We’ve seen it play out over and over again. The 1991 NFC Championship Game against Washington in which Detroit was blown out by the score of 41-10. Seven consecutive wild card playoff losses. And now, blowing a three-score lead against a heavily favored team on the road.
A lot will be made of Dan Campbell going for it on fourth and short twice instead of kicking field goals. Losing by a field goal will add another layer to that.
Fair. He’s the head coach. He deserves praise when things go well. He deserves criticism when things don’t go well. But this loss is not entirely on him.
Detroit’s defense gave up 27 second-half points. It allowed Brock Purdy to put up 315 total yards, including a couple huge runs on the ground. Christian McCaffrey gained 132 total yards after being snuffed out for a majority of the first half.
It was coaching. Losing in the trenches down the stretch played a role, too. It was the perfect storm for this Detroit Lions team. And it just adds to their playoff misery.
The good news? This team will be back. It is not going anywhere. That just doesn’t make Sunday’s 34-31 loss and less hard to stomach. That’s for sure.