When Richard Rodgers came down with Aaron Rodgers’ Hail Mary Thursday night, the immediate reaction for everyone attached to the Detroit Lions – players, coaches and fans alike – was stunned disbelief.
In a video that has circulated the internet, Matthew Stafford flips his baseball cap away and drops his head into his hands, while a few feet away, Calvin Johnson sinks to his knees in shock. Another video shows three Lions super fans, wearing costumes that included lion heads, go from standing and cheering to slumping back into the seats, confused expressions turning to anger.
Now, though, 48 hours after one of the most stunning defeats for a franchise that has more than its fair share, shock is giving way to the realization of what the loss really means for the Lions – the season is over.
Everyone thought that had been true a month ago, when the Lions lost 45-10 to the Kansas City Chiefs in London, falling to 1-7. No team had ever reached the postseason after finishing the first half with that record, and the surrender against Kansas City didn’t make it seem possible for Detroit to be the first.
Owner Martha Ford, though, fired general manager Martin Mayhew and team president Tom Lewand, and the team used the bye week to work on the offensive changes made by new offensive coordinator Jim Bob Cooter. On the other side of the ball, promising defensive coordinator Teryl Austin simplified his scheme, trying to find a way to make up for the losses of last season’s two best players – Ndamukong Suh and DeAndre Levy.
In the first game after the bye, the Lions did something that many fans had never seen – they won at Lambeau Field. Detroit hadn’t won in Green Bay during the entire run of Brett Favre and Rodgers at quarterback, and for the rest of November, it seemed like this actually was a new team.
The Lions rallied in the fourth quarter to beat the Oakland Raiders 18-13, then blew out the Philadelphia Eagles 48-21 on Thanksgiving Day behind five Stafford touchdown passes, three to Johnson.
Nov. 28, 2013 – Detroit, MI, USA – Detroit Lions’ Joique Bell holds off Green Bay Packers’ Morgan Burnett and Andy Mulumba on a first-down run to the one-yard line during fourth-quarter action in Detroit on Thursday, Nov. 28, 2013
Seven days later, when the Lions led Green Bay 20-0 at a raucous Ford Field, everyone was doing the math. Finishing off this win would make the team 5-7, and while they had a pair of road games coming up, they were against beatable teams in St. Louis and New Orleans.
Win those, and move to 7-7. Come home to rout the 49ers and then win at Soldier Field, and a 9-7 record might be enough to earn a postseason spot.
With just under 21 minutes to play Thursday night, and the Lions still holding the 20-point lead, Isa Abdul-Quddus knocked the ball out of James Starks’ hands at the Detroit 5. The crowd roared, seeing that improbable run moving a little closer.
But Randall Cobb fell on the fumble in the end zone for a touchdown, and Green Bay outscored the Lions 27-3 in the final 20:53. Rodgers and Rodgers stuck the dagger into Detroit’s season with the last-play miracle.
As bad as the NFC is, there’s no way for 8-8 to get in, and the silent Lions locker room showed how much momentum had been destroyed on one play.
“I’m still in shock,” said Golden Tate. “I really don’t even know how to feel about what just happened. This is crazy. We played a good game, and then just one play beat us.”
Fans are furious, claiming that Devin Taylor never grabbed Rodgers’ face mask as time expired, and the game should have been over. Combine that with the blown call in Seattle, where the officials missed the Seahawks batting the ball out of the end zone, and the Lions should be 6-6, not 4-8.
Lions coach Jim Caldwell agrees, but didn’t even bother to argue the penalty, saying it isn’t like the officials tend to change their mind and pick up flags.
Instead, Caldwell, knowing that the loss probably cost him his last chance at saving his job, said all the things a coach has to say.
“These guys, they’ll bounce back – you might not think they have anything to play for, but that’s you. These guys are competitive athletes, and they will keep playing,” he said. “They’ll be disappointed, very disappointed. You saw guys walking out of the locker room tonight, and they are aching.
“But the sun is going to rise tomorrow, and we have to get back to work.”
Caldwell was right – the sun did rise Friday morning and again on a foggy Saturday.
That doesn’t change the reality facing him and his team, though. There won’t be a miracle finish to 2015, just another lost year and the real possibility of yet another rebuilding process. That would probably mean the end of Johnson’s career in Detroit, and possibly the end of Stafford’s – their salaries are too high for a team that’s trying to start over.
Martha Ford’s first season as owner ended with an 11-5 record and a postseason trip. This year, she’s learning that running an NFL team isn’t quite as easy as it seemed.
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