NFL Playoffs: Poor Detroit... but honestly, we all kind of saw this coming

I have a soft spot for the Detroit Lions not because I am a fan of their program but because of the fact that they have been there since the very start and they are one of those teams that just can't seem to catch a break. I have seen them have rather great seasons a few times in my life but they just can't seem to finish the deal in any of their seasons. When the season was going very well for them I was already saying to my friends that I was excited that they were doing well but I knew that they were going to screw it up before the end of the year.

Arriving in the playoffs with a home-field advantage and a preferential placement in the bracket might seem awesome to someone that is less of a pessimist than I am but let's be honest here, I think even die-hard Lions fans knew that this was the eventual result but they probably just didn't think it would happen against a team like Washington.

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I don't actually know anyone that lives in Detroit, but I do talk to some of them online including Hive's very own superfan @bozz . I am sure that his sentiment during that game was about the same as the reaction of the people in the above picture as they just couldn't seem to get anything to work in that ill-fated game against a team that barely even made it to the playoffs.

Now to be fair, Washington has been on one hell of a tear since their late November loss to the Cowboys and they have handled their opponents with what appeared to be relative ease since then. Of course the last second field goal against Tampa Bay is something that a lot of people will remember for some time to come since the winning shot actually hit the upright post and while I don't know if this is true or not, someone in the crowd where I was watching the game said that Zane Gonzalez (the Washington kicker) is not regarded as a good player and has bounced around between many teams since he went pro in 2017. He only played 6 games with Washington this season and generally is not their first choice. I can't imagine the pressure he was under during that kick that at 37 yards, isn't even considered a very tough one.

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He was the hero of the game on that night vs Tampa Bay but let's be honest here: That's a "gimme" kick for most other kickers in the NFL.

The Washington relative dominance over Detroit was just so shocking to me. It isn't often that 6 touchdowns are scored in a single quarter in any football game, but for Detroit to just crumble on defense, allowing a 40 and 58 yard passing TD was many fans with their heads in their hands.

When the Lions decided to go for a field goal in the 4th quarter with just 5 minutes remaining that was basically an admission on the part of the coaching staff that they realized there was no way they were going to pull that one back. There was some hope on the part of Detroit fans as the 4th quarter began, but all of that was whisked away when Washington scored back-to-back touchdowns to take the lead from 3 points to 17 points in a very frustrating flash of an eye. I would imagine that a lot of the Detroit fans simply headed to the parking lot at that point to put themselves out of their misery.

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As the clock wound down towards the end the cameras kept showing us stands that all but completely emptied out because people would rather "beat the traffic" than continue to see the absolute beating that Detroit was taking on the field by a team that by almost all season-long statistics would indicate is inferior to the Lions.

I saw this coming a long time ago though and this is only because of the fact that Detroit just seems to be one of those teams that is going to find a way to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory... the kind of have a reputation for doing exactly that.

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So now I feel as though the actual best game of the playoffs is going to happen next Sunday when Kansas City plays against either the Ravens or the Bills. The Bills are another team that chokes when it matters most but I am really hoping that they can pull off another win so we don't have to have the stupid Ravens in the Super Bowl.

This is all quite disappointing to me because I'm not really excited about KC's performance as of late. They have been playing quite sub-par and once again, their most recent victory is shrouded in controversy about a call that was made in their favor that lead to a TD. There are lots of people that feel as though the Chiefs get preferential treatment and although I am a fan and wouldn't mind the first-ever three-peat, I can see why a lot of people feel this way.

Too bad Detroit. I really wanted them to go all the way but like I said, I kind of had a feeling that they were going to screw this up and man oh man, did they ever accomplish that yesterday