LIATHANO RAMIREZ
GRAPHIC DESIGNER
DARCY DAENZER
LAYOUT EDITOR
2/12/2024
On Jan. 28, the Detroit Lions unfortunately lost to the San Francisco 49ers 34-31 in the National Football Conference (NFC) Championship game, officially ending their 2023-2024 season. Despite them coming up short of the Super Bowl, the Lions still had a season to be proud of.
For the first time in program history, the Lions won the NFC North title, ended their 32-year drought in the post-season, won multiple playoff games and – since Dan Campbell has been head coach – they have improved their record from 3-13 in 2021 and 9-8 in 2022 to 12-5 in 2023 for the regular season.
Many thought this could be the year the Lions made it to the Super Bowl given how well they were playing this year, in part due to the performances of rookie players like Sam LaPorta, Aidan Hutchinson, Jahmyr Gibbs and Amon-Ra St. Brown.
“I have been a fan for years, and [I] have loved watching the program turn around under the direction of Dan Campbell. My family has been season ticket holders for almost 10 years, so it was awesome to finally experience a winning season,” said Jenna Holzinger (’25).
Going into halftime of the game against the 49ers, it was looking especially well as they were up 17 points, leading San Fransico 24-7.
But the 49ers quickly made up the deficit in the second half, scoring 17 points in the third quarter alone and another ten in the fourth quarter while the Lions only scored seven points total for the half.
The Lions’s loss after their great first-half performance left fans in shock. “Going into halftime, I would be lying if I said I didn’t feel confident we would win the game. I had a feeling the 49ers would make a run at some point during the second half, but I felt like our offense would respond. It sounds overdramatic, but at the end of the game, I felt crushed,” said Holzinger.
“My thoughts after the game were like many others [– disbelief]. I could not believe they blew the lead. As I reflected, though, it was not the Lions’s day. Once, Brandon Aiyuk [a wide receiver for the 49ers] caught the ball that bounced off the Lions’s DB facemask, I knew it was not going to finish well,” said Cooper O’Gara, Defensive Line Coach for Alma College’s football team.
While the Lions certainly could have played a better second half as they fumbled the ball, had incomplete passes and turned the ball over on fourth downs they could not convert, it is an attribute to the 49ers second-half game that they were able to come back from such a large deficit.
However, even though the Lions 2023-2024 season has now ended, this does not mean that they will not be able to carry the momentum and the success of this season into the seasons to come.
In an interview with The Associated Press, Brad Holmes, General Manager of the Lions, believes the success of this season was not a fluke.
“‘I understand that based on history from what’s happened in the past, I understand you have a season like this, it’s easy to feel like this was kind of a one-shot, magical, lucky, cute story, which I’m tired of hearing. It was none of that,’” said Holmes.
While Lions fans were certainly frustrated by the loss, this does not mean they will stop watching. If anything, seeing the Lions come so close to the Super Bowl, a championship which they have never competed in, only makes them more excited for the next season.
“I [100] percent see the organization continuing to improve in the coming seasons. This year, there was a shift in the culture and mentality of the Detroit Lions. I think the shift was felt by everyone: the fans, the players, the coaches and the NFL. I believe as long as Dan Campbell stays the head coach, we will continue to see these new Lions,” said Holzinger.
The Almanian: News 
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