The way the Lions handled their collapse is the reason the Super Bowl window stays open
The Lions’ culture is still the driving force for them
I know it, Detroit Lions fans. You’ve been hurt so many times. We’ve all seen the movie before. Basically, the Lions have a great season or a couple of great seasons, and then it all falls off a cliff, and everyone is left standing there wondering what the hell just happened?
It’s really easy to have that happen to you in the past and have that trauma creep back up in this moment. I fully understand that fear. I covered this team in 2015 when they went 7-9 after a huge 2014 season that looked like the start of something.
I was there for the 2017 team that lost that embarrassing game in Cincinnati and missed the playoffs a year after arguably the most magical Lions season ever at that time. I was there for the Matt Patricia years, and I watched this team eat itself from the inside out. I get the fear that it’s all downhill from here. I get why some Lions fans might want to tell themselves it’s over so they can maybe spare themselves the pain of feeling hope again.
I’ve never seen a Lions team pissed off and emotional like this before
You could feel it all week leading up to the Bears’ matchup. The Lions were pissed off for super obvious reasons. They’re missing the playoffs a year after going 15-2, and they were so unbelievably close to getting there.
Hell, they were three touchdowns away from winning the NFC North down the stretch. Three touchdowns in the last three weeks would have changed the entire season, because everything the Lions needed done outside the building in December was done. They just fell short on their own. And they’re mad about it.
The big thing here is that this is a good pissed off. There are multiple types of pissed off. There’s the pissed off where you’re like, “screw this, I’m done with this team and this season. See you later.” That is not the version of pissed off the Lions are right now.
Make no mistake, if you think for a second that Dan Campbell has lost this locker room, you’re crazy. I mean, look at this coach and this team crying together in this video. They’re still very much together.
It’s very clear how pissed off this team is. They’re the “that is never happening to us again” pissed off. That’s the key right there. We’ve talked so much about culture with this team in the last few years, and that is not going to end today. The culture is why you shouldn’t be saying hello, darkness my old friend, after the Lions missed the playoffs.
This team is incredibly self-aware on a level I have never seen before. I didn’t see this with Jim Schwartz, Jim Caldwell, and definitely not Matt Patricia. I mean, guys were drinking mimosas when the season ended with Patricia because they were just happy to get out of there and away from him. That is not what is happening here.
Frankly, I loved every way the Lions dealt with this collapse. No matter what, they did not give up. They never down-talked the season and continued to have faith it would happen for them. Even after it was clear it didn’t, the Lions then shifted the attitude to “let’s see who can handle it and then get rid of the guys who can’t.” Then they went out and beat the final team in front of them, and even when it looked like a potential collapse could happen in that game, they stood in and got it done.
The Lions played that game as if it mattered, and that goes a long way. It’s exactly what they did in 2021, when it was over for them, and in 2022, when it was over for them. This culture has gone untouched. It’s as strong as ever, and this is why the Lions are Super Bowl contenders in 2026. This, and a good offseason, of course.
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