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eric woodyard
MINNEAPOLIS — Entering the 2025 season, lions quarterback Jared Goff He admitted that he could not imagine any scenario where Detroit would not make the postseason after one of the most successful years in franchise history.
But as he walked out of U.S. Bank Stadium on Christmas Eve, that nightmare story came true as the Lions were officially out of the playoff race. lost 23-10 till minnesota vikings In the second to last game of the regular season.
“It sucks,” Goff said about missing the playoffs. “We’ll look at the whole season after next week, but yeah, it sucks.”
The Lions (8-8) entered the season with a 67% chance of reaching the playoffs, the fifth-best chance, according to ESPN Analytics, but they have now lost four of their last five games.
With the loss, the Lions defeated division rival PACKERS A playoff berth guarantees Green Bay at least a wild-card berth.
“At the end of the day you have to wish them the best. They had a good game plan and we weren’t ready,” the Lions right tackle said. Penny Sewell“simple as that,”
Goff was sacked five times on Thursday, and the Vikings’ defense forced him into five turnovers (two interceptions, three fumbles), which tied a career high.
After entering the contest with eight turnovers during Week 16, Detroit finished the game with a season-high six turnovers, the fewest in the NFL.
Goff fumbled his snap in the first quarter, then ran back Jahmir GibbsJoe finished with 17 carries for 41 yards, fumbled in the second quarter.
Goff fumbled twice in the fourth quarter.
“They did a good job on defense. They had a good plan and they took advantage of some things on us,” said Goff, who went 18 of 29 for 197 passing yards and a touchdown in the face of heavy pressure. “They succeeded in chasing us several times by adding additional crowd.”
Coach Dan Campbell called the loss and missing the postseason “disappointing” after the Lions looked to reach a franchise-best 15-win season in 2024. However, they had to adjust to losing both coordinators in the offseason and failed to recreate the magic from last year’s roster despite starting 5–2 this year.
“I’m going to watch a lot. I’m going to watch a lot of things because I don’t like being home for the playoffs,” Campbell said. “And I know our guys don’t do that either. And again, whenever you lose, it takes a village. Everybody gets involved, including me. So, I always look at myself first.”
Detroit’s offensive line struggled without starting left tackle taylor deckerJoe went out due to illness before the game and the Lions could not find any rhythm. Their only touchdown came at 11:13 in the second quarter on a 19-play, 10-plus-minute scoring drive that was capped by a 4-yard touchdown pass from Goff to rookie wide receiver Goff. isaac tesla,
However, Goff was under pressure on 38% of his dropbacks and did not handle pressure well, finishing 4-for-8 with 55 passing yards and one interception while under pressure.
With eight losses this season, Detroit now has more losses than the previous two seasons combined (27-7), and Campbell says he will not rush to remodel the roster in the offseason where necessary.
But for now, the Lions are focused on facing the Bears to close out the year and trying to get a win.
,[Lions general manager] flat nail [Holmes] And I have to take a lot of decisions. There are a lot of things to see, Campbell said. We need to improve the what, why, how. Because we need to improve.
“…I know this: It doesn’t take much for things to get out of balance. Not as much as you’d think.”
