So close in Year 2: Dan Campbell’s Lions may kick themselves over these losses

The Detroit Lions (9-8) finished the season as the last team left out of the postseason. And while that’s quite the accomplishment in Year 2 of a rebuild, it’s easy to see how the Lions could have gone dancing had a couple more plays gone their way.

Detroit closed the season with a 20-16 win over the Green Bay Packers on Sunday Night Football from Lambeau Field. They eliminated the Packers with their victory, pushing the Seattle Seahawks into the NFC’s final wild-card spot. And the Lions did so despite knowing their dreams of making the field had been crushed before kickoff thanks to the Seahawks beating the Los Angeles Rams in overtime.

Related: Inside the locker room: Lions didn’t let Rams-Seahawks derail focus in Green Bay

Related: Lions grades: Defense shines while offense closes Week 18 win over Packers

Let’s take a closer look at the losses that kept the Lions from tasting the postseason, including those to the Seahawks and Carolina Panthers, among others:

Week 4: Seattle Seahawks 48, Detroit Lions 45 (Ford Field)

Detroit’s shootout loss to the Seahawks from way back in early October sticks out like a sore thumb. The Seahawks took the tiebreaker that day, and eventually needed that to break into the playoff bracket. Geno Smith threw for 320 yards and two touchdowns, while Rashaad Penny ran for 151 yards and two scores. The Lions trailed 38-23 heading into the fourth quarter, with a Jared Goff pick-six interception to open the second half putting them into a hole. Goff forced a pass to tight end T.J. Hockenson, with breakout rookie corner Tariq Woolen making the read and taking the pick 40 yards to the house. Goff finished with 378 yards, four touchdowns and that one costly interception while playing keep up all day.

Key stat: The Seahawks had the ball nine times, scoring on seven of those possessions. The only two series they didn’t come away with points? A missed field goal from just outside the red zone and the clock running out. It was the first time they didn’t punt in a game in franchise history.

What they said after this loss: “We’ll look at everything we need to. To the scheme, to our personnel, and we’ll find the best fit and whatever we feel like’s going to give us the best chance and the best chance in three or four weeks too. If that’s a young player, it’s a young player. But — and then, we’ve got to outscore them. Honestly, there again, is — as messy as some of it was early, offensively we can’t — you can’t be that way when you get in this type of game. The offense is — that’s where this game went, it was high scoring, and so we have to outscore them. If you make a mistake, it can’t be for seven points,” Dan Campbell said after the Week 4 loss.

Week 16: Carolina Panthers 37, Detroit Lions 23 (Bank of America Stadium)

This is the one that likely still feels fresh for most fans. The Lions had won six of seven games entering, while the Panthers had shown little reason to feel optimistic about their explosiveness. Instead of jumping over an inferior opponent and gaining the inside track on the NFC’s seventh seed, the Lions got smacked, falling into a 31-7 hole on the road. Carolina’s one-two punch of running backs D’Onta Foreman and Chuba Hubbard accounted for rushes of 21, 21, 30, 32, 35 and 38 yards in the first half alone. Lions safety DeShon Elliott missed this game, and the defense missed 13 tackles on this tough day in Charlotte.

Key stat: The Panthers ran for a franchise-record 320 yards, with their first pair of 100-yard rushers since DeAngelo Williams and Jonathan Stewart shared the backfield.

What they said after this loss: “They got after us pretty good, man. That’s a hard pill to swallow there. You say things, but ultimately, when you play that way, it falls on me. I didn’t have them ready to go. And that wasn’t good enough. That was a hungry team we played, and we didn’t look as hungry as they did. That’s the bottom line,” Campbell said on Christmas Eve.

Week 8: Miami Dolphins 31, Detroit Lions 27 (Ford Field)

The Lions blew two double-digit leads while losing to the explosive Miami Dolphins. They scored the first two touchdowns of the game and even went into halftime, leading 27-17. Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa got it clicking with speedy receivers Jaylen Waddle and Tyreek Hill, though. Tagovailoa hit 29-of-36 passes for 382 yards and three touchdowns. Hill caught 12 of 14 targets for 188 yards. Waddle secured eight on nine looks for 106 yards and two touchdowns. The Dolphins scored 14 points in the third quarter to take the lead, shutting the Lions out in the second half after allowing 27 points through the first 30 minutes.

Key stat: Tyreek Hill and Jaylen Waddle combined for 20 catches on 23 targets for 294 yards and two touchdowns. The Dolphins converted eight-of-12 third-down attempts while Tagovailoa cruised to a career day.

What they said after this loss: “I’m over it. It’s not to the point where I’m lashing out at people just because they asked that question. But we know what we need to do. Of course, it’s irritating to hear the same question over and over and know how close we really are. We’ve just got to keep going. So, that’s why I don’t really pay attention to the words or people saying anything, just because we know how really close we really are. It’s just up to us to find out, pull it out of ourselves and come out with these dubs,” Jamaal Williams said.

Week 3: Minnesota Vikings 28, Detroit Lions 24 (U.S. Bank Stadium)

And while this loss isn’t getting the same attention as the ones to the Seahawks and Panthers. It’s worth noting that the Lions held a 24-14 lead entering the fourth quarter of the only division game they lost this season. The Lions did a lot right that day, including holding stud wideout Justin Jefferson to a career-low 14 yards on three catchers. It’s also the game where Dan Campbell put the loss on his shoulders, pointing to a 54-yard field goal try while protecting a lead with a less than one minute to go. Campbell started to find the right balance of aggression coming out of this one, with this loss hitting the second-year head coach hard.

Key stat: Minnesota scored two touchdowns in the final three minutes of this game. They needed only three plays to go 56 yards on the game-winning drive after Detroit’s long missed field goal.

What they said after this loss: “I hate it. I just hate the decision. I wish I could put it back in their hands offensively. So be it, you know. I just wish I would have done that,” Campbell said about the choice to send Austin Seibert out for the late 54-yard field goal.

Week 12, Thanksgiving: Buffalo Bills 28, Detroit Lions 25 (Ford Field)

It’s hard to kick a team for losing to one of the NFL’s best. But, man, the Lions had a chance against the Buffalo Bills with the nation watching on Thanksgiving. Kicker Michael Badgley tied things at 25-25 with under 30 seconds left. But then Josh Allen did Josh Allen things, firing a laser for Stefon Diggs for 36 yards on the first play of the series. Allen then ran for 3 yards and 9 yards, setting up the game-wining 46-yard kick after only three snaps to silence Ford Field.

Key stat: James Houston made his NFL debut in this game, notching two sacks and recovering a fumble on special teams. The rookie pass rusher would end the season with eight sacks across seven games.

What they said after this loss: “That quarterback’s the real deal. He’s a warrior. He’s clutch, and he made a lot of significant plays. We knew it would be hard to stop him, but we felt like we had to try and contain him. And I feel like for the most part we were able to do that. We just couldn’t quite close it out,” Campbell said of Allen.

If you purchase a product or register for an account through one of the links on our site, we may receive compensation.