The Lions' record-setting season came to a screeching halt Saturday night at Ford Field.
Jayden Daniels and the Commanders abused Detroit's depleted defense in a 45-31 romp to knock the Lions out of the playoffs.
The rookie quarterback was near flawless, making plays from start to finish with his arm and his legs. Jared Goff, meanwhile, threw three interceptions and lost a fumble. Jameson Williams also threw an interception on a trick play with the Lions trying to mount a comeback in the fourth quarter. The five turnovers were too much for the Lions to overcome on a night their defense couldn't find any answers.
Goff's first turnover was a fumble on 3rd and 1 with the Lions in the red zone and leading 7-3 in the first quarter. His second was a pick six on an overthrow that put the Commanders up 24-14 in the second quarter. His third was an interception in the end zone with the Lions driving to put points on the board on their final drive of the first half. His fourth came on Detroit's last drive of the night with the game out of reach.
"You have a chance to go up 14-3. That’s where the beginning of it started," said Dan Campbell. "When you need a stop, you don’t get a stop. When we do get a stop, we turn the ball over. We just didn’t complement each other. As everybody knows, you turn the ball over five times -- and the last one’s whatever, so call it four -- it’s just too much. It’s too hard against a team like that to come back, and we tried. We just couldn’t quite get over the hump."
Detroit won a franchise record 15 games this season and earned the No. 1 seed in the NFC for the first time ever. It all came crashing down Saturday night, as a pile of injuries finally caught up to the defense. Cornerback Amik Robertson joined the wounded when he was knocked out of the game with an elbow injury in the first quarter.
Daniels was the star of the night, completing 22 of 31 passes for 299 yards and two touchdowns with no picks. He also ran for 51 yards, including some key first downs.
For the Lions, the Super Bowl dream will have to wait another year.