The Lions are in the playoffs, but they haven’t yet shown they can compete with a playoff team.
Detroit is 0-5 this season against other teams that made the playoffs, and none of those five losses was particularly close: Detroit lost two of those games by double digits (42-21 to the Cowboys and 17-6 to the Giants), and although the other three games were all decided by seven points, the games weren’t as close as the scores would suggest.
The Lions trailed the Texans by 10 before a field goal with less than three minutes remaining cut the lead to seven. The Lions trailed the Packers by 28 in the second quarter before attempting to rally and cutting the Packers’ lead to seven with less than four minutes left in the fourth quarter. And the Lions trailed the Packers by 14 in the rematch before a Hail Mary with 13 seconds left cut the deficit to seven.
At the opposite end of the spectrum is New England, which went 4-1 against other playoff teams this season. The records of all 12 playoff teams against other playoff teams is right here.
