We know the dismal history. The Detroit Lions have not won a championship since 1957, a playoff game since the 1991 season and a division title since 1993. Mike Payton of AtoZ Sports offered a look at the last time the Lions won their division earlier this week, if you're interested in that as a nice blast from the past.
As the favorites to win the NFC North this year, and a popular bet to win the NFC, the Lions have lofty expectations this year. Winning a vulnerable division feels like a minimum expectation, and ending the playoff win drought also feels like an expectation for a lot of people. As it probably should be, if only in correlation to winning the division.
“To me a playoff win should be expected… they’re contenders.”#OnePride #NFL
— Woodward Sports Network (@woodwardsports) July 19, 2023
It's not a revelation that the world was a far different place in Jan. 5, 1992. I'll turn 43 next week, and I was not even 12 the last time the Lions won a playoff game--over the Dallas Cowboys, one year before they won their first of three Super Bowls in a four-year span.
A brief, stark reminder of last time the Detroit Lions won a playoff game
On Wednesday it's 50 days until the 2023 NFL season starts, when the Lions take on the Kansas City Chiefs. Douglas Clawson of CBS Sports has a list of 50 "things to know" to mark that occassion.
The note about the Lions will be lamented by Lions' fans as naturally negative, since that's the mentality many have. But it is a stark reminder of the team's last playoff win.
"32. The Lions are the NFC North favorites but don't forget they haven't won a playoff game since January 5, 1992. It's the longest active playoff win drought in the NFL. How long ago was that? Brett Favre was still on the Falcons. "Douglas Clawson, CBS Sports
Indeed, Brett Favre was not traded by the Falcons to the Packers until Feb. 11, 1992. That fall, he started an epic record consecutive start streak (321 games, counting playoffs) that is unlikely to ever be broken. Aaron Rodgers also had his entire tenure as the Packers' starting quarterback in succession of Favre since the Lions' last playoff win.
It's not that anyone needed another reminder of how long it has been since the Lions last won a playoff game. But placing it in the scope of Favre's entire career as a starting quarterback sure is something.