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The Lions’ Playoff Hopes Are No More

7:52 PM EST on January 8, 2023

The Seattle Seahawks celebrate an interception
Steph Chambers/Getty Images

The dream of a Lions-Jaguars Super Bowl is dead, and Jason Myers killed it. In a cruel, unpredictable, nerve-wracking, quite possibly tear-inducing overtime win, the Seattle Seahawks pulled the rug out from under Detroit by coming oh-so-close to blowing a must-win game but ultimately leaving the field victorious.

The Rams, quarterbacked by Baker Mayfield, held a lead at the start of both the third and fourth quarters but just couldn't produce the offense down the stretch that would keep them ahead. Though the defense did well to force a tying field goal on the goal line with 2:19 remaining (a tie did Seattle no good), a quick three-and-out gave Geno Smith and Michigan State's own Kenneth Walker an opening to stab the heart. A long Smith run and a borderline roughness flag put Jason Myers in position from 46 yards out, and, in a fleeting moment of beauty, he doinked it.

Overtime began with a Seahawks punt, but Mayfield delivered no heroics. He threw a pick to former Lion Quandre Diggs and gave Myers a chance at redemption. This time, from 32, he didn't screw up.

The Seahawks now, ironically enough, need a Lions win in the night game to steal from the Packers that playoff berth they just denied Detroit. Those fuckers.

But despite this crushing blow, Lions fans can at least look at their 7-2 recovery from a dreadful start and cuddle up to a bit of optimism through an empty winter, spring, and summer. With the Packers in decline, the Vikings looking very fraudulent even in a 13-4 campaign, and the Bears putting up the league's worst record, the NFC North genuinely seems very winnable. Next season might really be the Lions' year t—

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