As fireworks exploded over Levi's Stadium and the Lions' season went up in smoke, Alex Anzalone heard Dan Campbell telling his players to get off the field because it was being roped off for the trophy presentation. It was time to move on. Penei Sewell and Aidan Hutchinson walked side by side toward the tunnel, "no words," said Sewell, "just emotions." Amon-Ra St. Brown and David Montgomery burned the images of a celebration that wasn't theirs into their brains, and Taylor Decker bottled up the feelings. Alim McNeill was so distraught in the locker room a few minutes later that he barely heard a word Campbell said.
"You're juggling a handful of emotions," said Jared Goff, "knowing that getting this far is an accomplishment. But losing this game is devastating. You walk off the field and you see them celebrating, knowing the plays to be had out there for us that weren't made, and you think, 'That should be us celebrating this win.'"
When you come this close, there is little solace in getting this far. The red and gold confetti that fell to the field after the 49ers' comeback win Sunday night was a reminder for the Lions of what could have been. Pain is often blind to perspective. The Lions won the NFC North for the first time ever this season, hosted and won a playoff game for the first time in 32 years, then hosted and won another, and all Sewell could say after they matched the biggest second-half collapse in NFC title game history was, "That sh*t don’t matter."
"It’s all for nothing if you don’t win the whole thing," said St. Brown.
Even Campbell struggled to find consolation. He stood at a podium in the bowels of Levi's Stadium, so close and suddenly so far from the Super Bowl. His face was red, his voice was hoarse and his emotions were so raw that he he had to pause now and then to collect his thoughts. He talked about having his heart ripped out. Knowing full well that the Lions' season deserved more credit than he could give it in the moment, Campbell said, "I just feel like we're a little bit like everybody else who didn't make it and everybody else who lost."
"Unless you're the Super Bowl winner, that's what this feels like," he said. "It's what's great about this sport, what's great about the game, it's what's great about the tournament. But it's also what crushes you."
The dream died Sunday in San Francisco, but the Lions' ambitions will grow. Their season was not for nothing. In reaching so many franchise firsts, the Lions established a standard for themselves that can only be reached winning this game next season, and then the one after. As soon as "the clock hit zero and I knew that we lost," Montgomery said, "being as close as we were and not being able to accomplish what I know we were capable of, it sets that fire off in you." It will smolder within this team all offseason.
"Next year, we’re definitely not going to feel this way after any game," said St. Brown, "especially in the postseason. The feeling itself was something that we’ll never forget."
As the Lions ascended to new heights, their fans descended upon stadiums across the NFL. They traveled West in Honolulu blue waves, ready to see history. It's one thing to have hope, which is sometimes blind. The Lions turned skeptics into believers, evidenced by those chants that made their way from Michigan to California: Ja-red Goff! Even in his first year in Detroit, Montgomery knows "it’s been forever since (the fans) have had that feeling."
"When it comes afloat, you gotta be sure that you cherish it. But it’s definitely not gonna be the last time they’re going to feel it," he said. "We’ll be back.”
For most of the first half Sunday, the Lions put a licking on the best team in the NFC. They ran it one way and threw it the other, and their defense flew to the ball in flocks. Jameson Williams and Jahmyr Gibbs, the 12th overall picks from Bama, danced through the 49ers for touchdowns, and Montgomery, the marquee free agent signing last offseason, plowed his way into the end zone for another. The defense, powered by Hutchinson and McNeill, hemmed in Christian McCaffrey and flustered Brock Purdy.
The Lions built a 24-7 lead by playing fast, punishing football, the kind they've become known for under Campbell and GM Brad Holmes. The game was theirs until they started to give it away.
That's what will sting the most, the self-inflicted wounds. In a crucial stretch in the third quarter, the Lions turned it over on downs when receiver Josh Reynolds couldn't secure a pass from Goff, allowed a touchdown on the ensuing drive thanks to sloppy coverage and a circus catch by Brandon Aiyuk, immediately gave the ball back on a fumble by Gibbs, and four plays later the game was tied. Once the Lions cracked open the door, the 49ers busted it down. They lost the second half 27-7, and lost the game by three.
In every build, there is heartbreak. It couldn't happen all at once for the Lions, who ran into their biggest barrier in the NFC. Detroit will eventually have to break through the Niners, who are still trying to chase down the Super Bowl themselves after their fourth trip in five years to the NFC championship game. It's hard to get here, and harder still to take the next step. Campbell reminded his players all week, and all season, that any one play can be the difference in a game.
"But when you get in there with a heavyweight like San Fran, man, it is the difference," he said. "And sometimes, you can only say so much. You gotta live it, unfortunately. You gotta get your heart ripped out, which we did. And it's a lesson learned."
The Lions are young and impressionable, and will be better for this in the future. So will Campbell, who might dial back some of the aggression on offense with a better defense. The two field goals he turned down Sunday could have made all the difference. He doesn’t regret the decisions because he believes in his players, as he always will. And his fearless thinking will always be questioned in the mostly-conformist NFL.
Campbell told a devastated locker room that it will be twice as hard to get back here, in a reloaded division and in a league where the Lions have put themselves on the map: "You're not hiding from anybody anymore," he said. "Everybody is going to want a piece of you."
"Going into next year, teams will be ready for us," said St. Brown. "They’re not going to be thinking, 'That’s the Same Old Lions as before.' But that doesn’t matter for us as a team. We got this far this year, but it wasn’t enough. Next year we gotta be better. We gotta do more."
After the Lions' controversial loss in Dallas last month, Campbell told his players they were "perfectly scarred." They will be calloused by their collapse in San Fran. Sewell was so gutted he could barely speak. The offensive tackle who roars to his teammates before games stood in front a crowd of reporters in front of his locker and said quietly, but sternly, "Right now, this sh*t's on, bro. That’s all I gotta say."
"We definitely changed the narrative of this organization," Anzalone said. "It’s disappointing, and only one team gets to hold the trophy at the end of the year, but I think we turned the tables in how we’re perceived as a team. Even competing in this game, I think we let the world know, let the league know, what we’re about going forward."
In raising an NFC North banner this season, the Lions lifted a weight off the franchise. They also lifted expectations. Anything less than everything next season will be a letdown. The standard, said Anzalone, is "Super Bowl or bust."
"That was our mindset this year, even though the outside people didn’t necessarily think that or believe that," he said. "But inside, our team knows that’s our standard and that’s going to be our standard going forward."
The core is in place, but upgrades will be needed on defense, particularly in the secondary and the pass-rushing department. The Lions survived as long as they could with Cam Sutton and Kindle Vildor as their top two corners. They would also be wise to double down on the offensive line with an extension coming for Goff, who played plenty well enough on Sunday to win. He finished the playoffs with four touchdowns, no picks and a passer rating of 103.3
"We have a good foundation, and I think Dan and Brad have built this team the right way," said veteran left tackle Taylor Decker. "A team that’s going to handle adversity, that’s not going to back down, that’s going to play confident and play physical, and ultimately we just have to see if we can sustain it because that’s going to be the mark of an actual good team. You just bottle this feeling up, because now we know what it feels like to fall short of our goals being so close."
The NFL is a mountain to climb, and each team starts every season at the base. That's why, with the summit in sight, falling short feels like a failure. Montgomery looked around the room and called it “gut-wrenching.” McNeill, with his bags packed and beads of sweat still dripping down his forehead, said, "I'm sorry, I can't think right now." Then he wiped his brow and declared, "We established a standard of being a tough, gritty team. We're going to fight, and fight and fight and fight. Until it's over."
It's over for now, but just beginning for the Lions. They will start next year's climb at a higher station in the NFL, even if their record reverts to 0-0. That's what they achieved this season and this month. More than franchise firsts and historical markers -- the "sh*t that don't matter" -- the Lions proved to the NFL and to themselves that they belong with the teams that do matter, and that they are here to stay. The 49ers are off to the Super Bowl, and can count on seeing the Lions again.
"They beat us today," said Goff. "But we've got a lot of great pieces in here and expect to continue playing winning football for quite some time."