The Detroit Lions didn’t get the gift they wanted on Christmas Day, and they fell to the Minnesota Vikings on the road in a 23-10 final score. What’s even more embarrassing is that the Minnesota Vikings didn’t even have their franchise quarterback, J.J. McCarthy, on the field. He was out injured, so the Lions lost to Max Brosmer as the signal-caller.
So, Santa gave the Detroit Lions coal for their performance in the game, and now, the team doesn’t have any chance of making the postseason. Even if they had won the game, according to NFL research, they would have only had a 7% to make the cut, but now, it’s 0%.
Following the game, Detroit Lions head coach Dan Campbell talked about the future of the franchise. He also said that he and general manager Brad Holmes have some work to do before the 2026-27 season, which is a given.
Dan Campbell Talks Detroit Lions Christmas Loss
After the game, a deflated Campbell talked about the game and what it means for the Lions.
“I expect everybody to be ready to go when we get back in a couple of days, be locked in and be ready when we get on a plane to go to Chicago, to be locked in one more time,” Campbell told reporters. “That’s what I expect. And then we’ll go from there. Brad and I will have a lot of decisions to make, you know, a lot of things to look at. The what’s the whys, the how do we improve? Because we need to improve.”
Elsewhere in the presser, Dan said that the team has gotten off balance, but he also made it sound like they weren’t far away from getting back on balance.
“I know this. It doesn’t take much for things to get off balance, you know, it really — not as much as you would think,” Campbell explained. “So, sometimes it can be one thing here. It could be one player. It could be one coach … or the placement of somebody. Maybe he needs to be playing here, or maybe he needs to be doing this — every team’s different every year, man.”
Campbell also used one word to sum up the Lions’ loss: “disappointing.”
For full context, he said, “And even if you have the core, which you believe in, why we’ve got them is that, man. It’s always a new team. You’ve got to find your own way, man. So it’s disappointing, you know? It’s disappointing. So, this is what it is.”
The Detroit Lions Won’t Make the Postseason
With their loss to the Vikings on Christmas Day, the Detroit Lions, of course, are out of the playoffs. So, they’re all the talk of the NFL after the Christmas game.
“Minnesota (8-8) has now won four straight, a defense-fueled late-season surge,” Zachary Pereles of CBS Sports said in a postgame feature. “Minnesota sacked Goff five times, and ahead of an offseason full of offensive questions, the defense is an encouraging sign.”
The Detroit Lions have now fallen to 8-8 and have dropped three straight. They’ll be out of the postseason for the first time since 2022.
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