The Detroit Lions came into 2024 to avenge their playoff loss. Despite an incredible regular season, they met an even worse fate: immediate elimination. All things considered, was the 2024 season a success or failure?
Only one team can win it all each season. There were high hopes and high expectations that the Detroit Lions could be the one to do it. A 15-2 season set themselves up for a home stand en route to the Super Bowl. The team was devastated by their playoff loss last season, and that game drove their path of destruction in the regular season: they were a team on a mission.
Yet following another playoff loss that hurts just as badly, was that mission a success or failure?
The Lions lost to the Washington Commanders in heartbreaking fashion. The injury bug had the last laugh. The defense floundered. The offense committed the cardinal sin of too many turnovers in the playoffs. All the hopes were dashed away in under 60 minutes.
The road to this point was incredible, but does the ending sour the season that was?
Today’s Question of the Day is:
Was the Lions’ 2024 season a success or failure?
My answer: A success.
This is such a difficult question to answer—I almost wanted to cop out and say that it depends, because it truthfully does. Success or failure is based on your expectations. Does the bad destination outweigh the great journey?
The 2024 Lions were a better team than their 2023 counterpart in nearly facet. The offense was more dangerous, demolishing foes at rates we have not seen in franchise history. The defense, amidst endless injuries to starters and depth alike, was also a significant improvement over the season prior. The Lions turned a scrapheap of practice squad-caliber players into good defense. In 2023, the defense was bad, with or without injuries. Not to be forgotten, the Lions also cemented their special teams for years to come: Jack Fox is an All-Pro punter, while Jake Bates and Hogan Hatten were solid in their debut seasons.
All of these improvements led to the best regular season in Lions franchise history. A whopping 15 wins is an incredible feat for any NFL team. That is without question a success, no?
The regular season is just an avenue for playoff glory, and the Lions fell flat in that regard. A stunning regular season amounted to a disastrous playoff loss. Once the playoffs begin, those 15 wins meant nothing besides seeding: it was do or die, and the Lions died. Bowing out from the playoffs in upset fashion is rendered worse by the incredible regular season. The Lions won 15 games and lost like that? All of those weeks of incredible football, and the Lions could not defeat a team they were heavily favored against when it actually mattered. For all the good that Detroit demonstrated, they could not match their previous NFC Championship appearance. How can you call this season a success when they could not improve on last year’s playoff run?
There is no right answer to the question of success or failure, but I am leaning towards success. At the end of the day, we got to experience months of exciting football. Football is, at its core, entertainment, and to paraphrase the famous line from Gladiator, were we not entertained? Think back to the Matt Patricia era where watching the Lions was akin to a chore—I hated having to write about the NFL Draft in early November. Even if the ending was below expectations, it was still a positive season.
Was the season a success or a failure? It all depends on what you wanted from this season. A better team than last year? Success. A Super Bowl appearance? Failure. The Lions have set themselves up for continued dominance, but this missed opportunity will sting until they finally win that coveted trophy.
