At Finish Line, Lions Choked against 49ers

Lions missed prime opportunity to win Super Bowl

24-7: It's a score that no Detroit Lions fan will want to be reminded of tomorrow, next month, next season or even a century from now.

It represents the seemingly comfortable lead that the Lions possessed going into halftime of Sunday's NFC Championship Game.

I don't cherish being the bearer of bad news, but yes, Detroit was just 30 minutes away from knocking off the No. 1 seed San Francisco 49ers and advancing to the Super Bowl for the very first time in franchise history.

But then the third quarter came (a quarter that's given the Lions trouble all season), and everything that could've gone wrong did for Dan Campbell's team.

From a dropped pass by Josh Reynolds on a fourth-down conversion attempt on Detroit's opening drive of the second half, to a Kindle Vildor should've-been interception and a Jahmyr Gibbs fumble on the team's subsequent offensive possession, Detroit made miscue after miscue in what was its worst quarter of the entire season.

In just a mere 12 minutes of game time, the Lions went from imposing their will and playing like the team of destiny, to failing to be able to execute any kind of positive play and choking away a 17-point lead.

Kyle Shanahan's team went on to outscore Campbell & Co. in the final half, 27-7, en route to the 34-31 victory. And just like that, Detroit's dream season was no more.

“We’ve always been able to get our momentum back, and it’s hard to say,” Campbell said of the team’s error-filled second half. “Honestly right now, I can’t put my finger on that. That’s not like us. We had plays to be made that we just didn’t make that we normally do. And some of the things, third quarter when we came out, I thought we did a really good job defensively, man, held them to three and got the ball back and moved it. But, we just couldn't quite make those plays.

“So, third quarter, you know, we’ve been in there, we’ve been there before. And so (in the) fourth quarter, you feel like we’re gonna get it back, and we just couldn’t quite get over the hump. That hasn’t been us all year, and it showed up today at the worst time.”

It was certainly a tale of two halves for the Lions.

What Lions Said After 49ers Loss: It's Super Bowl or Bust

In the first half, Detroit’s offensive line dominated the line of scrimmage, and consistently paved the way for running lanes for Gibbs and David Montgomery. The duo combined for 148 yards on the ground in the opening half, the most first-half rushing yards allowed by a San Francisco team during the Shanahan era (2017-present).

Additionally, the Lions outgained the 49ers in the opening half, 280 yards to 131 yards. They also accumulated 18 first downs, and converted on five of their seven third-down tries. Meanwhile, Aaron Glenn’s unit held San Francisco to eight first downs and a 50 percent conversion rate on third down (three-of-six).

In stark contrast, in the second half, the Lions totaled just 162 yards, converted just one additional third-down attempt (went one-of-five) and gained 10 first downs.

The 49ers, meanwhile, turned the tables on Detroit, and thrashed Glenn & Co. to the tune of 282 yards and 15 first downs in the final half of play.

There are no ifs, ands or buts about it: The Lions had the game in their hands at halftime, and just needed to play a decent enough final two quarters to close out San Francisco.

Yet, Campbell’s squad did the complete opposite of that Sunday. It was out-played in every way imaginable in the second half, and proceeded to squander a terrific opportunity to punch its ticket to its first ever Super Bowl appearance.

And sure, 49ers quarterback Brock Purdy and the likes of Christian McCaffrey, Deebo Samuel and Brandon Aiyuk each made their fair share of plays down the stretch to seal the victory for San Francisco. But, in the end, Detroit has nobody to blame but itself for the demoralizing loss.

David Montgomery reacts to Detroit Lions NFC Championship game loss to San Francisco 49ers :: © Junfu Han / USA TODAY NETWORK

Lions quarterback Jared Goff, in the immediate aftermath of the team’s forgettable second-half performance, held no punches about it, too. He knows he and his teammates belonged on the same playing field as the 49ers, and blew a great chance to represent the NFC in Super Bowl 58.

“Our guys have been battle-tested all year,” Goff told reporters in the postgame. “That game wasn’t too big — it wasn’t like they were superior through every play. We hang with those teams. We felt like we should have won the game, obviously.”

It’s a harsh reality that the Lions, and their fans, are now forced to accept.

And not only should they have beaten San Francisco, but they also would have had a legit shot at hoisting the Lombardi Trophy at season’s end. Yes, I’m here to tell you that Detroit, with no Super Bowl appearances to its name, would’ve had a realistic shot at knocking off Patrick Mahomes and the reigning Super Bowl champion Kansas City Chiefs in Super Bowl LVIII.

The Lions, remember, beat the Chiefs in the NFL’s regular season opener at Arrowhead Stadium. And no, I don’t care that Kansas City was without Travis Kelce for the game. A win’s a win, and there’s no need for an asterisk attached to it (as NBC Sports’ Mike Tirico suggested at the conclusion of that Week 1 victory for Detroit).

Sure, it would’ve been tough for Detroit to contain Mahomes and Kelce for all four quarters, and to beat that good of a team for a second time this season. But, with how the Lions played through their first two postseason contests this year and in the first half of Sunday’s NFC Championship Game, there's little-to-no doubt Detroit would have given Kansas City all that it could handle.

And, on top of that, the Campbell-led squad would’ve arguably been the better all-around team headed into the matchup, when you take into account the Chiefs’ lack of offensive efficiency at times in 2023.

I can go on and on about how it would have been a favorable matchup for the Lions, but I won’t because it’s not fair to the organization's Super Bowl-starved fanbase to do so.

Detroit, unfortunately, will be at home like the rest of us when the Super Bowl kicks off on Sunday, Feb. 11, from Las Vegas. And, as Campbell expressed in his postgame presser Sunday, there’s no guarantee that the Lions will make it back to the NFC Championship Game next season.

“I told those guys, this may have been our only shot,” Campbell commented. “Do I think that? No. Do I believe that? No. However, I know how hard it is to get here. I’m well aware. And, it’s gonna be twice as hard to get back to this point next year than it was this year. That’s the reality. And, if we don’t have the same hunger and the same work (ethic) — which is a whole ‘nother thing once we get to the offseason — then we’ve got no shot of getting back here.

“I don’t care how much better we get or what we add or what we draft. It’s irrelevant. It’s gonna be tough. Everybody in our division’s gonna be loaded back up. And, you know, you’re not hiding from anybody anymore. Everybody’s gonna want a piece of you.”

There’s no doubt that the Lions, after their impressive run through the regular season and the playoffs this year, will be the hunted, instead of the hunters, going into the 2024 season. And, as Campbell said, it makes it that much harder to make another deep postseason run a year from now.

Unfortunately, that’s life in the big city in the NFL, and the Lions will have to embrace that reality going into next season.

And they’ll also, once again, have to accept the fact that they blew a prime opportunity this season to make history: to end the year as Super Bowl champions.