While the San Francisco 49ers and defending champion Kansas City Chiefs gleefully await return trips to the Super Bowl, set for Feb. 11 in Las Vegas, the Detroit Lions and their long-suffering fan base are still trying to figure out what in the world happened.
Oh, sure, the favored Baltimore Ravens and their followers are also endeavoring to pick up the pieces after their own loss on conference-championship Sunday, Jan. 28—in Baltimore, no less. At least they can take solace, however, in the fact that, painful as it is, there was never much doubt that the Ravens were in trouble. The Chiefs controlled their 17–10 AFC Championship Game victory pretty much from start to finish.
It is much different in Detroit. The Lions, one of only four NFL teams never to have reached a Super Bowl, had performed admirably and were on the precipice of making history. They held a 14-point lead over the heavily favored 49ers midway through the third quarter of the NFC Championship Game in Santa Clara, California.
To figure out how it all went so wrong, so fast, ending in a 34–31 loss to San Francisco that was so bitter that it will live in Motor City infamy for generations, the tortured populace need look only at the same man who had orchestrated the inspirational turnaround of a long-moribund franchise.
Swashbuckling Dan Campbell, who had deservedly seized a reputation as the NFL’s most aggressive coach, had brought Detroit within 22 minutes of a Super Bowl appearance that had long seemed like an impossible dream.
It still does.
With the 49ers having managed a field goal on their first second-half possession to shave a 24–7, halftime deficit ever so slightly, the Lions drove to the San Francisco 28-yard line with just more than seven minutes left in the third quarter. Facing fourth-and-2, Mr. Campbell eschewed a manageable field goal attempt that could have restored Detroit’s 17-point advantage.
Matching scores with the 49ers from that point forward would have more than done the job. Instead, just as he had so many times previously, and would do again in another critical situation later in the game, Mr. Campbell left his offense on the field, opting to go for a first down and extend the series in pursuit of a touchdown.
Quarterback Jared Goff’s pass intended for wide receiver Josh Reynolds fell incomplete, turning the ball over to the 49ers on downs. San Francisco immediately marched for a touchdown, then recovered a Lions fumble on their next play from scrimmage, and quickly scored again.
In less than five minutes of playing time, the once-commanding lead Detroit had held since the game’s opening possession had gone up in smoke. Predictably, the Lions never recovered.
The 49ers moved on top for the first time, 27–24, on rookie kicker Jake Moody’s second field goal, a 33-yarder 5:08 into the fourth quarter. That led to the next decision that blew up in Mr. Campbell’s face.
Needing 3 yards on fourth down at the San Francisco 30, with the clock ticking under eight minutes, Mr. Campbell again disdained a field goal attempt, one that could have tied the score once more. A Goff pass targeting wide receiver Amon-Ra St. Brown did not connect. The 49ers scored a touchdown on their ensuing possession, making a subsequent Detroit touchdown mere window dressing.
“It’s easy, hindsight,” Mr. Campbell said when questioned about the fourth-down calls during his post-game news conference. “I get it. I get that. But I don’t regret those decisions. It’s hard because we didn’t come through ... and I understand the scrutiny I’ll get. That’s part of the gig, man. But, you know, it just didn’t work out.”
Mr. Campbell’s defenders will point to his unwavering consistency in making such decisions, and the resulting aggressive mindset that has served the Lions so well this season. Both are fair points, but anyone who watched even a handful of Detroit’s games could have predicted that the riverboat gambler-style philosophy would ultimately result in exactly such a critical failure.
No doubt, the modern style of NFL game, where most of the field seems to have become “four-down territory,” has evolved well beyond the days of legendary coaches such as George Halas, Vince Lombardi, and Don Shula. Still, old-school ways retain value, and a good coach must read situations and adjust when necessary.
Mr. Campbell, perhaps blinded by previous successes or perhaps merely stubborn, certainly did not display that ability. Instead, he took a glorious season that he and the Lions had neatly gift-wrapped for the denizens of Detroit, and ripped it right out from under them.
Thus ended the greatest Lions campaign since 1957, when the team won the most recent of its four NFL championships. Since the first Super Bowl, which followed the 1966 season, Detroit had reached an NFC Championship game just once previously, the 1991 edition in which the then-Washington
Redskins rolled to a 41–10 victory.
San Francisco, meanwhile, is bound for an eighth Super Bowl, and looking to tie the record of six victories shared by the Pittsburgh Steelers and New England Patriots. And Kansas City, led by superstar quarterback Patrick Mahomes, is headed to a Super Bowl for the fourth time in five years.
Speaking during his own media session after Kansas City’s victory, and well before the Lions-49ers result, Mahomes offered some omniscient words about a destination that must seem as far off as Mars for everyone in Detroit.
“You don’t take it for granted,” he said. “You never know how many you’re going to get to, or if you’re going to get to any. It truly is special.”
While recognizing all the Lions had accomplished this season, including two playoff victories that left Detroit delirious, Mr. Campbell could only lament what might have been.
“It’s what’s great about this sport, what’s great about the game, what’s great about the tournament,” he said. “And it’s also what just crushes you.”
