MINNEAPOLIS — It was a long shot to make the playoffs going into these final two games.
But the Detroit Lions are officially eliminated, going out with a whimper in their ugly, turnover-filled loss to the Minnesota Vikings. The Lions lost, 23-10, suffering six turnovers that blew a chance against an anemic offense that had only 3 net passing yards.
MLive’s Dungeon of Doom podcast reflects on the team’s loss to the Vikings, while looking to the future and a tough, crucial offseason ahead. Hosts Kory Woods and Ben Raven break down the ugly showing on Christmas, what was said after the game and where they think the franchise goes from here.
“The band-aid has been ripped off. The dwindling playoff chances are dead and gone just like that,” Raven said, opening the podcast in disbelief at what he just watched in Minnesota. “I cannot believe we’re about to talk about a Dan Campbell-coached team that looked like that in a game that still had meaning.”
Woods joined his co-host in disbelief, charting the three-year path for the Lions from NFC title game to first-round exit to missing the postseason. That conference championship game appearance was supposed to be the start of something special.
And while the Lions have back-to-back division titles and a 15-win campaign in that span. The bar has been raised, and they failed to come close to it in 2025.
Campbell spoke after the game about needing to look at everything regarding where the team goes from here. The Lions coach said he has to look at everything because they need to improve, and he and the team certainly don’t enjoy watching the playoffs from home.
Detroit’s floundering offensive line once again came back to bite them. The Lions ran for less than 100 yards in the third straight game, and, go figure, they lost all three of those outings. They have dropped all seven games this season when failing to hit that mark.
During that three-game stretch, the Lions have averaged a league-worst 2.5 yards per carry and have lost 42 rushing yards before contact.
Jared Goff was sacked five times, threw two interceptions, and had two bad snaps lead to two lost fumbles.
“It’s so hard not to look back on this season and view it as an abject failure to plan for the short term and the future on the offensive line,” Raven said.
See below to listen to the latest Dungeon of Doom postgame podcast. We’ll be back with a mailbag episode next week, so send questions and recorded voice memos to [email protected]:
