The Detroit Lions’ 2024 season has been effectively ruined by a brutal playoff exit. They entered the playoffs with a single goal: to win the Super Bowl and create a legendary legacy. But it sounds like a joke now after Dan Campbell and his team suffered a humiliating 45-31 loss to the Washington Commanders. The Lions struggled to contain quarterback Jayden Daniels’ incredible speed and were overwhelmed by the Commanders’ defense, committing five turnovers on offense. A long off-season and intense criticism followed immediately after the game. Coach Campbell was heavily called out by social media pundits for his aggressive playcalling, which allegedly led to some unforgivable mistakes.

Now, NFL great Warren Sapp added to the criticism with a brief yet sharp dig. Sapp has always had something to say about the Lions, whether it’s praising a reunion with Calvin Johnson or offering bittersweet criticism of Ndamukong Suh. And now?

Warren Sapp threw shades at the beleaguered Lions coach and fans

Coach Campbell was visibly shaken after the game, struggling to put into words what this record-breaking 15-win season and his players meant to him following their heartbreaking playoff loss. The Lions mounted a humiliating record of being the first-ever team in NFL history to lose a playoff game despite amassing 300-plus passing and 200-plus rushing yards. It was an absolute disaster for the Lions. If you know and understand the metric of football, you must be aware that there is not much silver lining for the team in the coming season as well. It will be an uphill battle for the Lions to build that same level of hype entering the 2025 season after their tragic collapse. Former defensive tackle Sapp rubbed salt in the wound, noting, ‘‘SOL. Same Ole Lions!”

If you’re a Detroit Lions fan, you can’t be unaware of the phrase, “Same Old Lions.” It has been dished out over the generations as an unwavering sign of humiliation of the Lions, who garnered an ill reputation for losing the big game. The Lions haven’t had a championship victory since 1957 and have never reached the Super Bowl. So, the words tell a recurring tale of heartbreak and sorrow. But it has a reverse side as well.

Campbell once said the phrase has tremendously motivated the team to hustle, struggle, and fight back against all the odds to rise again. “Every time we hear the S-O-L, ‘Same Old Lions,’ and all the stuff, I think it fuels our fire,” said the coach.

Whether they can bounce back and give us a better version of the Lions next season is a big question mark. But Sapp’s earlier plea to come and play for the Lions? Yeah, that probably went out the window with this harsh dig.

Warren Sapp would love to play for Dan Campbell

“We just didn’t play great, and I mentioned we didn’t complement each other and that’s the same thing. At the end of the day, I didn’t have them ready,” Campbell said. “It’s hard to look at it.” Everybody is suffering the aftershock of a brutal shock. Sapp did nothing but add fuel to the fire by dishing out a signature insult. But just a few months back, the picture was different. Sapp seemed to be totally in awe of Coach Campbell.

Sapp follows an unorthodox, uncanny style of coaching but doesn’t make it a flop. It rather worked out quite greatly. The Lions have gone from 3-13-1 in 2021 to 9-8 in 2022 to 12-5 this year. The improvement has been pretty visible. Campbell’s out-of-the-box mindset had contributed handsomely to the franchise’s growth.

Remember those fired-up pre-game speeches where Campbell would tell his players, ‘All I think about is guys?’ That kind of energy really resonated with Warren Sapp. In fact, on an episode of Fearless With Jason Whitlock last year, Sapp said, “I’d play for this man any day of the week and twice on Sunday. That’s what you want in your head coach.”Echoing the same mentality as coach Campbell, Sapp noted, “The only way you play game, is practice game.”

However, all of this flickering interest is history now. Another big game missed out, and the card took a pear shape for good or not, whatever.