2024-25 NFL Playoffs Thread

[OldHeidelberg]

LMAO some unexpected happiness in this house tonight.🤣 

[homer]

that sound you hear is the Lions Super Bowl window slamming shut....also you may be hearing Lions fans crying their eyes out. Two separate sounds.

[wOOgiE22]

This just goes to show you are never guaranteed anything in this league.  The Packers last year were the Commanders this year. A team getting hot at the right time.  Teams like the Patriots, Chiefs and Cowboys of the 90’s are the exception. 

[HarryDoyle]

And with that, the Cowboys have the longest NFCCG drought in the conference.

[LouisEly]

39 minutes ago, HarryDoyle said:

Not a good look for the NFC North though.

Funny thing is that the Packers looked the best (least worst?) of all of them.

[OldHeidelberg]

In retrospect it has been apparent for a couple of months that the Lions season was headed for a defensive playoff collapse like this. They just kept winning so nobody believed it. A lot like the 2011 Packers.

[adambr2]

9 hours ago, wOOgiE22 said:

This just goes to show you are never guaranteed anything in this league.  The Packers last year were the Commanders this year. A team getting hot at the right time.  Teams like the Patriots, Chiefs and Cowboys of the 90’s are the exception. 

Yep. That’s why last year hurt so much. Yeah, I know we were young, I know we weren’t expected to be there, but when we were in San Francisco with a late lead and a chance to go to the NFCCG, none of that mattered. We could have won it all last year. Detroit was beatable, and so was KC. When we couldn’t finish, it was an opportunity lost. It doesn’t matter how young you are, how bright the future looks, you’re never guaranteed to get back to where you had your biggest opportunity. Who would have thought both Detroit and Green Bay would slip back further from how close they both got last year?

[HarryDoyle]

2 hours ago, OldHeidelberg said:

In retrospect it has been apparent for a couple of months that the Lions season was headed for a defensive playoff collapse like this. They just kept winning so nobody believed it. A lot like the 2011 Packers.

It's not retrospect for me. This should not be shocking. Detroit's defense was never going to hold up throughout the postseason. You don't get to play the Jaguars of the world in the playoffs or whomever else they clobbered by 40 points this year. Plus, a lot of people seriously underestimated Washington. I did too to some degree, but I'm certainly not shocked they won this game. The talk of Jaden Daniels having the best rookie season for a quarterback of all time is warranted, and I tend to agree with that assessment. One year in and not only is he a better quarterback than Love, but Washington is also a better team than Green Bay. He, Quinn and the new ownership have done a fabulous job turning that organization around. All the experts were saying the Packers were the team nobody wanted to play in the playoffs. That was laughably wrong. They should've been saying that about Washington. If they play the Rams next week, I think they win. If it's the Eagles, they may not win but Philly will have to play near perfect to win.

As for the Lions, I think they just squandered away their Super Bowl window. Both their coordinators will be gone most likely (neither of which I think will be successful as head coaches) and Campbell doesn't strike me as an X and O guy. Goff won't have another year like he had this year. I could easily see this team out of the playoffs in 2026.

[adambr2]

11 minutes ago, HarryDoyle said:

It's not retrospect for me. This should not be shocking. Detroit's defense was never going to hold up throughout the postseason. You don't get to play the Jaguars of the world in the playoffs or whomever else they clobbered by 40 points this year. Plus, a lot of people seriously underestimated Washington. I did too to some degree, but I'm certainly not shocked they won this game. The talk of Jaden Daniels having the best rookie season for a quarterback of all time is warranted, and I tend to agree with that assessment. One year in and not only is he a better quarterback than Love, but Washington is also a better team than Green Bay. He, Quinn and the new ownership have done a fabulous job turning that organization around. All the experts were saying the Packers were the team nobody wanted to play in the playoffs. That was laughably wrong. They should've been saying that about Washington. If they play the Rams next week, I think they win. If it's the Eagles, they may not win but Philly will have to play near perfect to win.

As for the Lions, I think they just squandered away their Super Bowl window. Both their coordinators will be gone most likely (neither of which I think will be successful as head coaches) and Campbell doesn't strike me as an X and O guy. Goff won't have another year like he had this year. I could easily see this team out of the playoffs in 2026.

It obviously was a fluke now in hindsight, but it looked like in that last game against Minnesota that the defense had started to right the ship a little.

As far as the Lions long-term outlook, adding Hutchinson back next year is huge, and I don’t really have any reason to think they won’t be a strong contender still. But of course they could take a step back from this year and possibly not even win the division. But I think they’ll still be in it.

[HarryDoyle]

14 minutes ago, adambr2 said:

It obviously was a fluke now in hindsight, but it looked like in that last game against Minnesota that the defense had started to right the ship a little.

As far as the Lions long-term outlook, adding Hutchinson back next year is huge, and I don’t really have any reason to think they won’t be a strong contender still. But of course they could take a step back from this year and possibly not even win the division. But I think they’ll still be in it.

That's why I said 2026. I could see them still making the playoffs next season. I just think they peaked in 2024. Ron Wolf called the 1996 Packers a fart in the wind after losing the Super Bowl the following year. So are the 2024 Lions, just not as successful. It will be interesting to see how the division shakes out between now and July. Will Caleb Williams improve? Will the Bears hire a competent coach? Will Gutey and MLF show that "ramping up the sense of urgency" is more than just lip service? Will we get the Jordan Love of 2023 or 2024? Are the Vikings for real or was 2024 just a fluke season?

[OldHeidelberg]

The Lions are still very talented, I expect them to be a playoff team next year but I do agree they may have missed there shot these last 2 years. I expected Campbell's aggressive calls to do them in again but last night the OC blew it by first going empty backfield on 3rd and 1 when Gibbs when gashing them, then in typical Campbell disciple fashion goes to the trick plays one too many times. Goff was bad too, I am pulling for the Rams to get out of the NFC to rub more salt in the wounds for Detroit.

[Brian]

https://lombardiave.com/nfl-basically-admits-screwed-packers-playoff-loss-eagles

 

[yourout]

2 hours ago, OldHeidelberg said:

The Lions are still very talented, I expect them to be a playoff team next year but I do agree they may have missed there shot these last 2 years. I expected Campbell's aggressive calls to do them in again but last night the OC blew it by first going empty backfield on 3rd and 1 when Gibbs when gashing them, then in typical Campbell disciple fashion goes to the trick plays one too many times. Goff was bad too, I am pulling for the Rams to get out of the NFC to rub more salt in the wounds for Detroit.

It would be pretty nuts if Stafford wins 2 rings after getting traded away.

[Fear The Chorizo]

It is impossible to play physical secondary defense in today's NFL.  Totally clean hit on Smith on a deep pass into double coverage that Hurts hung him out to dry draws a 15 yard penalty. 

Then again, last week the Eagles were running g around spearing Packers and no flags - the only thing consistent is how inconsistently some if these rules are applied by officials.

[HarryDoyle]

2 minutes ago, Fear The Chorizo said:

It is impossible to play physical secondary defense in today's NFL.  Totally clean hit on Smith on a deep pass into double coverage that Hurts hung him out to dry draws a 15 yard penalty. 

Then again, last week the Eagles were running g around spearing Packers and no flags - the only thing consistent is how inconsistently some if these rules are applied by officials.

The head to head contact was obvious and should've been flagged. I agree that defenses are hamstrung in this day and age, but this was not one of those times to complain about it.

[HarryDoyle]

Philly clearly looks like the better team but is only up 1 after the safety. Don't know why they didn't run Saquon back on their own goal line with Hurts banged up.

[yourout]

Packers had by far the weakest pass rush in any playoff game I have watched so far.

[HarryDoyle]

And there's the turning point.

[yourout]

1 minute ago, HarryDoyle said:

And there's the turning point.

Huge mistake.

[HarryDoyle]

It's over now. The Rams are out of their element.

[yourout]

10 minutes ago, HarryDoyle said:

It's over now. The Rams are out of their element.

Philly real caught a break with the weather. 

 

[HarryDoyle]

2 minutes ago, yourout said:

Philly real caught a break with the weather. 

 

Once the heavy stuff started coming down it was game over.

And now it really is game over.

[Fear The Chorizo]

16 minutes ago, HarryDoyle said:

Once the heavy stuff started coming down it was game over.

And now it really is game over.

Hang on...

[HarryDoyle]

Just now, Fear The Chorizo said:

Hang on...

I still feel confident, but this would be a massive implosion by Philly if they choke this away. Shades of Seattle 2014.

[Underachiever]

This reads like a Brewer game thread when MKE goes down 2-0. “Game over.”