DETROIT – It had been a glorious fall here in Detroit: day after day of 70 degrees, gentle breezes and sunshine. Few clouds. No storms. Construction cranes continued to move in a revitalized downtown, finishing skyscrapers and new condominiums alike. The Tigers heated up and offered a few weeks of baseball’s unique burst of energy.
And the Lions, the Lions kept winning, now 4-1.
Here, in a city accustomed to political insults and underdog status, a strange phenomenon had taken over the people and the place: life as a favorite. It’s still too new to expect a win: this isn’t Kansas City or New England before.
But Dan Campbell’s team is undeniably good, even great. Offense. Defense. Training. The stars are acting. Role players have stepped up. Plays are being made, even trick plays. Somehow, Jameson Williams seems to get faster every week. The Lions are capable of not only beating anyone, but beating them.
There’s nothing like a fan’s provocation.
Discussions about the Super Bowl, which for generations have been nothing but delusional territory, have been more than reasonable. The team has few obvious weaknesses and incalculable strengths. Only history has caused doubts.
Late Sunday afternoon the rain finally arrived: meteorologically through a cold drizzle and then a heavy downpour arrived to offer the first sign of eventual winter.
Then, metaphorically, when, in the middle of a stirring 47-9 thrashing of the Dallas Cowboys, Aiden Hutchinson broke his tibia.
Just like that, the satisfaction of the kind of Sunday afternoon that so rarely comes here (his team completely dominating on national television) was hit by an injury so visually gruesome that Fox didn’t show it and emotionally painful that no Lions fan wanted to. even contemplate it.
“It’s tough,” Campbell said afterward.
The instant reaction is that Detroit could have won the game but lost the Super Bowl, although only time will tell.
There’s no denying Hutchinson’s impact on the field — he led the NFL in sacks (7.5) — and his mere presence opened up the game for fellow defensive linemen like Alim McNeill (2.5 sacks) and Levi Onwuzurike (1.5, 12 tackles). not to mention he helped a young but impressive secondary (three interceptions against the Cowboys).
However, statistics are statistics. There is no one in the league who plays harder than Hutchinson; he seemingly takes every play as if it were the last play of the Super Bowl. Chase the ball carriers. He hurries back down the field. He is relentless, an undoubted tone-setter on every play not only in the game, but also in practice.
In Brad Holmes, Detroit may have one of the best general managers in the league. The heat of draft picks he has been in turned a dispirited and moribund franchise into a roster brimming with talent. He did so by keeping future draft capital and $28.5 million in cap space, according to OverTheCap.com, in case of emergency.
Hutch recovering from surgery in a Dallas hospital Sunday night would qualify as that.
So maybe they can trade for a replacement, whether it’s a more reasonable Maxx Crosby (Las Vegas) or a Myles Garrett (Cleveland) or a Trey Hendrickson (Cincinnati) or a more reasonable Travon Walker (Jacksonville) or Jadeveon Clowney (Pittsburgh).
What Holmes and Campbell have built, both in attitude and aptitude, is more of a player, even a war dad or edge rusher. The offense is powerful. The defense is fierce. There is too much here. On Sunday, when Campbell handed the game ball to Jared Goff for his three-touchdown performance, Goff quickly gave it back to Campbell, a Dallas-area native and former Cowboy, for beating his old team.
“Our (expletive) head coach is our (expletive) support now,” Goff said.
The season, much less the Super Bowl, is anything but lost.
Still, there’s something about doing it without Aiden Hutchinson that left Detroit unwell even as the blue skies returned to drain the puddles Monday morning.
Hutchinson is one of them. They didn’t bring him here; he is from here. He grew up in Plymouth as the son of a Michigan Wolverine legend. He played at Divine Child in Dearborn and then at the U of M. In 2021, he boosted the team that ultimately bullied Ohio State, won the Big Ten and made the College Football Playoffs.
When the 2022 draft came around, he didn’t want to go first overall — to Jacksonville, which took Walker. I wanted Detroit. I loved the Lions. The heart of the team was already taking shape: Goff had been traded and Holmes had drafted offensive lineman Penei Sewell, receiver Amon-Ra St. Brown and Onwuzurike and McNeill.
Hutchinson brought star power and credibility. When she sang – and danced – to Michael Jackson’s “Billie Jean” on “Hard Knocks” that summer, she seemingly galvanized the fan base. The possibilities were somewhat obvious.
It was the symbol of the team, of the city, of the collective hopes that had arisen after decades of knowing better.
Sacks and tackles and maybe even leadership can be replaced. Next man up. The ending is still the plan.
However, at the best of times, a player is more than his production, even in the NFL.
So, as the weather and chances improved for the Lions, the disappointment persisted. No hutch. The dream is still alive, but it is not the same either.
