You may have heard the stat about how the Detroit Lions haven’t lost back to back games since 2022.
It’s a pretty impressive accomplishment that says a lot about how this team under Dan Campbell is wired. They play their best when they’re coming off a loss and have something to prove.
But this year, the Lions have also had a hard time winning back to back games. And it’s quickly derailing their season entirely.
And after a 41-34 loss on Sunday to the Los Angeles Rams put them at 8-6, Detroit has to win its final three games to even have a chance at making the playoffs. Sure, they’ve avoided a big losing skid. But, they also haven’t won consecutive games since taking down the Cleveland Browns and Cincinnati Bengals sans Joe Burrow in Weeks 4 and 5.
The NFL is all about stacking wins. And these Lions haven’t been able to do it since the first quarter of the year.
Lions' lack of consistency is burying them ahead of postseason
“The win, lose, win, lose, we’ve got to get out of that rut, and it can't be okay,” Campbell said after Detroit lost to the Rams. “It should burn at you. It should eat you up.”
Detroit has had stretches where its defense looked dominant but the offense was plagued by inconsistency, like its 16-9 loss to the Philadelphia Eagles or 24-9 win over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
And lately, the offense has been humming, but the defense hasn’t been good enough, like the most recent Rams loss, their 31-24 Thanksgiving loss to the Green Bay Packers or even their 34-27 win over the New York Giants that required overtime.
Very rarely have the two sides played well at the same time. You could argue it hasn’t really happened since September, save for a 44-22 romp of the now 4-10 Washington Commanders last month.
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That inability to put it all together has defined this Lions season, and it’s kept them from being competitive with the NFC’s top teams. They are a combined 0-4 against the Rams, Packers and Eagles, and are just 1-3 in their division after going 6-0 in the NFC North last year.
Detroit has dubbed several games this season “must-wins”. Green Bay on Thanksgiving. Philadelphia on Sunday night. Dallas on Thursday night. They haven’t won all of those games. And these final three games of the season really are “must wins”. They are this team’s last chance.
And winning all three doesn’t even guarantee the Lions a playoff spot in a crowded NFC. The Lions haven’t been able to put a streak together in quite a while. But now they have no choice.
“I don't know if it's in our control anymore,” edge rusher Aidan Hutchinson said after the Rams loss. “I'm not really sure, but I know we have an opportunity to finish strong as a team and we got the guys to do it. We're kind of putting everything in the Steelers now.”