Okay, so I’ve been digging into the Lions’ playoff history, and let me tell you, it’s been a wild ride. I started this whole thing because I was curious about how they’ve been doing, especially since they had a killer season last year, going 12-5. That got me thinking, “When was the last time these guys were this good?”
First off, I went way back and looked at their overall performance in the playoffs. I found out they’ve only had three postseason wins since 1957! I mean, can you believe that? And get this, they lost nine playoff games in a row from 1991 to 2023. That’s an NFL record for the worst playoff winning percentage. I felt bad just reading about it.
Then I got into the details. I found out that the 2008 season was a total disaster. They didn’t win a single game! Zero wins in 16 games. It’s one of only four winless seasons since the merger. Reading through some game summaries, I saw that they were sometimes close, like at halftime against Washington, they were only down 17-10. But then they just got crushed in the second half. It was rough.
Diving Deeper into Specific Years
I wanted to know more about the recent years, so I checked when they last made it to the postseason before 2023. Turns out it was 2016. Back then, Matthew Stafford was the quarterback, and his main targets were Golden Tate and Marvin Jones. It felt like a trip down memory lane, seeing those names again.
Checking Out Some Stats
- I made a list of all the years they had double-digit wins before last year: 1931, 1934, 1953, 1962, 1970, 1991, 1993, 1995, 2011, and 2014. Seeing those dates really put things into perspective.
- I also noted down their playoff record between February 14, 1993, and February 14, which was 0-8. Yeah, you read that right, zero wins in that period. And between December 2, 1974, and December 2, it was 3-12. Not great, but a little better.
Putting It All Together
After gathering all this info, I organized it in a way that made sense to me. I started with the broad strokes, like their overall playoff record, then drilled down into specific seasons and periods. I even looked up some basic stuff, like their old team name, the Portsmouth Spartans. It’s kinda cool to see how things have changed over the years.
This whole process was pretty eye-opening. It made me appreciate the good seasons even more, knowing how tough it’s been for them in the playoffs. It’s like, you really root for them to do well, you know? Anyway, that’s my deep dive into the Lions’ playoff history. Hope you found it as interesting as I did!
