The Detroit Lions limped to the finish in the 2025 season, and failed to make the playoffs. In the end, the biggest reason was due to some of the inconsistencies and troubles on the defensive side of the ball.
Detroit had plenty of key players on the sideline for the last few weeks of the year, and it led to their eventual downfall. They couldn't get enough stops at key moments to win close games, which is why they missed on the postseason.
After the season, the disappointment could lead to a major soul-search in terms of scheme or plan. How can the Lions get better for a new season, and will there be significant changes needed to improve?
While the decision makers will be weighing their options, the star player on that side of the ball isn't sure big changes are needed. Simply, he thinks that some of the troubles the team saw are related to not finding the inches in the big moments.
Joining ESPN's "Sunday NFL Countdown," Aidan Hutchinson shed some light on what went wrong from the inside.
"As a player it really felt in those critical games, we were not playing complementary football in those moments. It's really on three phases. It was sometimes offense, defense, special teams. It was a collective thing where little parts were letting us down. We ended up 9-8, but it wasn't enough to get us in. That was unfortunate, but we're all looking forward to next year."
The reason the Lions didn't get the job done? Hutchinson believes it revolves mostly around health. Find some key improvements with that for 2026, and the Lions can be off and running again next season.
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"To me, defensively, I think (the key to improvement is) getting healthy. Get our secondary healthy. Get all those guys back (healthy), and I really think we're going to have a complete defense."
Perhaps the only issue with that is both Kerby Joseph and Brian Branch have uncertain futures at safety. Either could return strong next year, or injuries could force them to take a step backward. There is, however, a major opportunity for improvement if each come back along with cornerback Terrion Arnold.
Brad Holmes agrees with Hutchinson's assessment about the defense
It's not as if Hutchinson is on an island with his take. Even Detroit's general manager believes that the injuries played a significant role in what played out down the stretch, because the Lions were forced to play expected depth players as regular starters and suffered as a result.
"When you lose some impact players as we did, you're going to have some hurdles. I do think some guys came in and stepped up. A lot of those guys we brought in to be quality depth and they had to play large roles and be starters. I think a lot of the secondary injuries, you could say that equated a little bit to the explosive plays in the pass game."
In addition to that, Holmes also believes the Lions struggled up front, and that led to problems that the franchise will have to also identify moving forward within some of the changes they may be forced to ponder.
"Late in the season, some of the run defense stuff, that was just uncharacteristic. We've normally been relatively very good in run defense and it just was not clicking. It was not consistent. We are going to look at everything. I'm always going to look at players first, but I'm sure Dan (Campbell) and I are going to look at players, scheme, the whole thing."
While many might think the Lions need drastic changes on defense, it might be a case of tweaks and health. Hutchinson helped set the tone from the inside, and believes in that mantra for next year.