Detroit Lions eliminated from playoffs after Seahawks win

The Detroit Lions have been eliminated from playoff contention after the Seattle Seahawks came back to beat the Los Angeles Rams. The win moves the Seahawks to 9-8 on the season and currently into the seventh seed in the NFC. Because the Lions have lost the head-to-head matchup with Seattle, even if the beat the Packers on Sunday night, they will not be able to surpass the Seahawks for a playoff spot.

It’s a disappointing development given how close the Lions came to making a dream run—starting from 1-6 and working their way back to .500. However, it’s hard to feel too bad about how the season played out, because the Lions are playing really good football with a really young roster.

That said, there is no indication this development will impact the Lions’ motivation in Sunday night’s game against the Green Bay Packers. Lions coach Dan Campbell insisted the team will treat this game as a playoff game no matter the actual stakes.

“This is big, and it’s going to be fun, and let’s go,” Campbell said this week. “I mean the intensity is up, now. This is a playoff game, and they’re going to know that. And so that’s how we’re going into it.”

So while this isn’t the ideal scenario for the Lions fans, both the future is bright and the Lions still have a big opportunity to make a statement and knock the Packers out of the playoffs.