Never Predict Your Matchups
There is a now famous little moment between Dan Campbell and Kevin O’Connell at the end of week 18’s big NFCN showdown. The Lions win, and big man Dan walks over to meet Kevin at midfield for the classic post-game handshake. He slaps him on the back and in that deep gravelly steroid voice that sounds like his vocal chords are more ripped than my jeans in the 90’s Dan goes “Great job great season I’ll see ya in two weeks“. It was a nice little line, clearly referencing a healthy amount of respect for his opponent by suggesting they’d meet again in the playoffs.
They did not.
It is unprecedented to see a 15-win team and a 14-win team in the same division. They both went to the playoffs with their annoying baby brother Green Bay, who mom demanded they drag along. Three teams from one division in the post-season. None of them would face each other. None of them would win a single game. I’m not sure that’s ever happened. Divisions have sent 3 teams to the playoffs before, but usually that last team is a 9-7 squeaker not an 11-win pest like Green Bay was. None could win a single game. Green Bay would get popped by Philadelphia, the Vikings would have the miracle season crumble to Los Angeles, and the Lions would get waxed by a rookie-led Commanders in the divisional after a bye. 40 total wins between them all, and not a single win when it counted.
The funny part to me is even if the Vikings won against Los Angeles they wouldn’t have played the Lions in those two weeks anyway, the Commies were the lower seed. Swing and a miss, Dan.
The Lions lost Ben Johnson as of two days ago, jettisoning for the Bears shockingly fast to the point where it seems he might have accepted the job and been working on his staff before the Lions even played. Lions fans are not thrilled about that and a lot have already turned on him and took the terrible offensive plans in the game as proof his mind wasn’t in it. I think the Lions fans have a point. There’s been a lot of discussion about how the NFL might need to prevent teams from interviewing coaches who’s seasons have not yet ended. I don’t know if I agree with that idea, but this is the reason why this sort of idea gets raised in the first place. The playoffs are important. You need everyone on the ball. Are you really on the ball if you are taking interviews and planning to get out? All of this is old hat NFL operation of course, but the Lions fanbase have never experienced this in their lifetimes. This is the first time I can remember a Lions coach getting poached, and they will lose both coordinators.
The Vikings might also lose Brian Flores but I think the chances are low. Flores is probably a toxic hire to NFL ownership after his lawsuit calling them out. He’ll probably need another year being great before he gets poached.
I hope Dan and Kevin have a nice relaxing weekend, wherever they may be.
I guess Dan thought the Bucs would take out the Commanders, too.
If you throw in the Bucs, then all 4 NFL Central teams went one-and-done in the playoffs.
Also, I looked it up, the closest to 3 teams from the same division going 1 & done in the playoffs was the 1999 AFC East that had Buffalo (Music City Miracle) & Indianapolis get beat by Tennessee & Miami getting murdered by Jacksonville 62-7, but even then Miami beat AFC West champion Seattle in the wild-card round.
I can’t believe Ben Johnson would phone in that offensive performance. He went back to Detroit to try and win a title. If anything, it was a total Lions collapse.
I understand being uoset about it from the Lions fanbase, but I have a hard time thinking that a coach is going to take their eye off the gameplan during the playoffs.