3 Lions to blame for painful NFC Championship collapse
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The Super Bowl is set, and it's one that Joe Montana, Steve DeBerg, and Elvis Grbac would be proud of, as it features a matchup between the Kansas City Chiefs and the San Francisco 49ers. The Chiefs and Niners will run it back on the game's biggest stage after meeting in Super Bowl LIV in 2020, a 31-20 Chiefs win that kicked off the beginning of the Chiefs dynasty.
Kansas City had control of their game against the Baltimore Ravens from start to finish through a combination of Patrick Mahomes' brilliance and the Ravens' miscues, while the Niners made history in erasing a 17-point halftime deficit to beat the Detroit Lions. Just as the Ravens' errors cost them a shot at the Super Bowl, the Lions' carriage finally turned into a pumpkin thanks to critical mistakes at the worst possible times.
To be fair, everyone on the 49ers stepped up in the second half to make a win possible. Brock Purdy made big plays with his arm and his legs, Brandon Aiyuk made one of the wildest catches in postseason history, and both Deebo Samuel and Christian McCaffrey continually cut through the Lions' defense. The Niners deserve to be in the Super Bowl, but as much as they earned it, the Lions gave it away through dropped passes, an untimely fumble, and aggressive decisions gone wrong.
Detroit just completed a dream season, which makes it difficult to pass blame around after the franchise's best finish since 1957. As much as it seems that this Lions team is here to stay, though, even Dan Campbell recognizes that fortunes can change quickly in the NFL. There's no shame in losing in the NFC Championship Game, but at some point in time, the Lions and their fans are going to regret the one that got away. Here are the three people most responsible.
1) Lions running back Jahmyr Gibbs
Just as the Ravens were done in by Zay Flowers' rookie miscues, the biggest turning point in this game came when rookie Jahmyr Gibbs fumbled in the third quarter.
Let's set the stage. The Niners had seized momentum thanks to Brandon Aiyuk's impossible catch off the facemask of Lions DB Kindle Vildor, scoring soon after to cut Detroit's lead to seven. The Lions needed to answer with a drive of their own to regain control, and they turned to Gibbs, their uber-talented rookie, to begin the drive. Tashaun Gipson had other ideas, knocking the ball loose, and Arik Armstead recovered to put San Fran right back in business.
Fumbles happen, but the timing of this one couldn't have been worse. Worse yet, Gibbs never had a good handle on the ball because he seemed to run the wrong play, nearly colliding with quarterback Jared Goff and bobbling the ball right before meeting Gipson at the line.
Like Flowers, Gibbs' presence helped his team's offense become much more multidimensional this year, which makes it such a shame that things ended on such a sour note for both of them. In our article about the Ravens most responsible for their loss, we mentioned the comparisons between Flowers and Tyreek Hill while predicting a bright future for the young wideout. Similarly, Gibbs is reminiscent of a young Alvin Kamara with his balance, acceleration, and ability in the open field. He'll be back and better than ever next year.