A few NFL teams took winding roads to the postseason. But none can top the strange journey of the Detroit Lions.
Detroit made the playoffs as the NFC’s No. 6 seed, earning a wild-card game berth against the Seattle Seahawks on Saturday despite losing its last three games to finish 9-7. The Lions were the kings of drama this season, trailing in the fourth quarter in 14 of their 16 games and winning just two contests by seven points or more.
If you think those stats are pretty insane for a playoff team, though, get a load of this: As ProFootballTalk points out, Detroit didn’t beat a single playoff team this season. That’s right: The Lions finished 0-5 against teams currently in the postseason, making them the only playoff team without a win against a playoff-bound opponent.
To put that into context, the 3-13 Chicago Bears, 4-12 Los Angeles Rams and 5-11 San Diego Chargers all beat playoff teams this season.
Those defeats accounted for all but two of Detroit’s losses, as the team fell to the Houston Texans, New York Giants, Dallas Cowboys and Green Bay Packers twice. In fact, the Lions beat just one team that finished with a record above .500: the 8-7-1 Washington Redskins.
Of course, it’d be foolish to write off Detroit on that stat alone; the club has a top-tier quarterback in Matthew Stafford and a defense that held opponents to 20 points or fewer in eight of its last 10 games. Still, the fact that the Lions didn’t have a “signature win” this season doesn’t bode well ahead of a road matchup with the Seattle Seahawks — who, mind you, had a 3-1 record against playoff teams this season.
Here’s how the rest of the NFL’s playoff teams fared against playoff opponents, courtesy of PFT:
Patriots: 4-1
Seahawks: 3-1
Packers: 5-2
Cowboys: 3-2
Giants: 3-2
Chiefs: 3-2
Falcons: 2-2
Steelers: 2-3
Texans: 2-3
Dolphins: 1-3
Raiders: 1-3
Lions: 0-5
Thumbnail photo via Matt Marton/USA TODAY Sports Images
