This wasn’t supposed to happen. Ford Field was ready to witness their beloved Lions take another giant stride to make the Super Bowl. It was supposed to be their year. Qualifying as the No.1 seed from the NFC, blowing teams apart week in and week out. No matter how many players they had injured. The Lions were always able to find a way to win games. However, that’s when Jayden Daniels’ Commanders came along and turned everything upside down in Detroit.

Dreams soon turned into nightmares for the Lions, who were left wiping tears after their shocking divisional-round playoff exit. Dan Campbell’s wife, Holly, was one of them who couldn’t believe what she had just witnessed. On a Sunday morning, Holly took to her Instagram and shared a cold, broken-heart graphic while expressing: “It hurts. This season was a dream, and nobody wanted it to end. We all wanted more. Detroit deserved more.” Like there isn’t even a question that the Lions truly deserved to play their first Super Bowl.

After racking the most wins ever in their franchise history and earning a bye before facing the Commanders. Everyone thought the Lions would at least turn around their last season’s gut-wrenching defeat to the 49ers in the NFC Championship Game. However, it wasn’t meant to happen, as the Commanders scored 31 points in the first half while Jared Goff threw 3 interceptions. It was like everything they did right throughout the season just wasn’t clicking on Saturday.

Yes, the Lions tried to keep themselves in the game with a Jahmyr Gibbs TD, which narrowed the deficit to 3 points. But Washington wasn’t meant to be contained. They took the game away from Dan Campbell’s grip by producing two consecutive TD drives. This was all too much for the Lions, who looked dejected on the field with 7 seven minutes still to play. Every time the Fox cameras captured the Lions supporters’ faces, they were either sobbing or couldn’t believe what had just happened.

But Holly, for one, isn’t ready to give up just yet. She further added on her Instagram post, “We’ll be back, better and stronger, but today…it just hurts💙 #onepride.” See, for sure, the Lions will be back again next season with a vengeance in their minds. Yeah, this season, they couldn’t reach their promised land. Their dreams weren’t fulfilled. However, next season, you could expect a different Lions side with more hunger in their stomach.

What’s next for the Detroit Lions?

For now, the Lions will go back to their drawing board and see what went wrong against the Commanders. Was it them turning the football over five times? Or was it those costly penalties that could have been avoided? See, there was a moment when the Commanders were only ahead with 3 points while facing a 4th-and-2. And that’s when the Lions made a costly blunder. They sent 12 defenders on the field. With 70,000 screaming inside Ford Field, none of those defenders got the message from coaches or players alike.

So what happened? Yellow flags came in, and the Commanders were handed a fresh set of downs. Then, two plays later, Commanders RB Brian Robinson scored a 1-yard TD and took the game away from the Lions. Here’s the thing: The Lions had been unfortunate in their defense all season. They have lost key starters like Aidan Hutchinson, Alim McNeill, Carlton Davis and Alex Anzalone. And you know what? The Lions could also lose their defensive coordinator, Aaron Glenn, before next season.

Now, their losses might not stay limited to defense. Offensive coordinator: Ben Johnson could also depart like Aaron Glenn, thereby leaving Dan Campbell with a lot to consider in his coaching staff. So, among all the ifs and buts, the Lions could at least feel fortunate that Dan Campbell isn’t going anywhere. He remains the face of Detroit, having made them relevant again. Before the last two seasons, the Lions had never won the NFC North. And now look at them—they simply dominated the division.

This Lions side under Campbell has racked up 564 points in the last two seasons and has had consecutive double-digit winning seasons. So, there are positives among the negatives. And only time will tell whether the Lions can continue their upward trajectory in 2025.