ESPN ranks the Lions' most heartbreaking loss ever. Did they get it right?

The War Room Detroit Lions — The Den
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ESPN has an article ranking the worst loss ever for every NFL team:

What is your NFL team’s most heartbreaking loss? From ‘28-3’ to the ‘Ice Bowl’ to ‘The Drive’ (espn.com)

Their Lions entry:

Dec. 3, 2015, regular season
Ford Field, Detroit

The Lions’ history includes no shortage of heartbreaking and bizarre moments. You can take your pick with these situations, which includes becoming the first team in NFL history to lose twice in a season on 50-yard field goals on the final play of regulation, per Elias Sports Bureau research, just this season. But one crushing defeat sticks out: the Dec. 3, 2015, loss to the Packers, when quarterback Aaron Rodgers connected with Richard Rodgers for a 61-yard Hail Mary as time expired. It was the longest game-winning, game-ending Hail Mary in NFL history, per Elias, and lifted the Packers to a stunning 27-23 victory. – Eric Woodyard

Certainly worthy of consideration, but I think there’s some recency bias creeping in here (a common problem with ESPN).

Because this was just a regular-season game.

My vote would be for this:

59fda-monteclarkpraying_display_image

1983 playoffs. Lions at 49ers.

Lions were about to beat a San Francisco team that had already won a Super Bowl – this was after “The Catch” between Dwight Clark and Joe Montana. I’ll say it again. The Lions were about to beat Joe Montana’s, Bill Walsh’s 49ers in the playoffs, in their home stadium. They had the lead in the 4th quarter, 23-17, riding Billy Sims. But Montana drove the 49ers down on a 70-yard drive, completing passes all over the field as he so often did, for a Freddie Solomon TD pass with 1:30 left to give San Francisco a 24-23 lead.

BUT WAIT! The Lions mount a last-minute drive of their own!

All they needed was ever-reliable kicker Eddie Murray to make a 42-yard field goal. Above we see Lions Coach Monte Clark raising a prayer skyward.

We knows how this goes for Detroit. Murray choked. The kick wasn’t even close. 49ers win.

I think the entire trajectory of the Lions franchise changes if that field goal is good.

A postscript to that game: Murray is (probably rightfully) given the blame for missing that kick. And an NFL kicker as good as he is has GOT to make a 42-yarder in a clutch situation like that.

But check out Lions QB Gary Danielson’s stat line from that game:

24 of 38, 236 yards, 0 TDs, 5 INTs.

How in the world were the Lions still in that game? Two words: Billy Sims. 114 yards and 2 TDs.
But how Danielson has escaped fan ire for that outcome … he should be sending Murray a Christmas gift every year.

http://static.espn.go.com/nfl/playoffs98/news/1999/990105/01028816.html

Another one worth mentioning – it’s before my time, but it has to be ranked higher than a regular-season loss, no matter how heart-wrenching that loss may have been: The Greg Landry-led Lions losing to the Craig Morton-led Cowboys 5-0 in the 1970 playoffs.

Many oldtimers will tell you that Lions team was good enough to win a championship.

In 1970, Lions-Cowboys produced one of the rarest results in NFL history | FOX Sports

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I’d have to say the Favre to Sharpe in the wild card game

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Another definitely worthy one. Favre threw Sharpe such a high-arch pass, and Sharpe was so wide open, that the whole play was like in slow motion. “Nnnnnnnnnnnnnooooooooooooooo!”

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You should have been in my parents living room for that play…my dad looked as if one of his kids died

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1980 Bears OT win on kickoff return. It ruined the holidays.

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Forgot to add that it never should have happened because we stopped them on 4th down but Erin got an emmy award winning head turn as our DE grazed his face mask. Roughing the passer THEN… the bomb.

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That was actually a good call

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Agreed. If you’re going to ask this question, I think you really should limit it to games that actually mattered, of which there are very, very few in the last 50 years. So I’d go with that one, and if I’m indulging my own recency bias, I put the Dallas wildcard game in 2015 right behind it, when we had more talent than I’ve ever seen together in Lions uniforms and got hosed (as usual).

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I just looked at it again…he barely touched the face mask if at all

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To me it’s still the 2014 playoff loss at Dallas. They were our toughest matchup. There wasn’t another team in the nfc we couldn’t have beaten.

Almost as big was the loss to the packers that year in the season finale. Win that game and we get a bye and home playoff game for the first time in over 20 years.

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Last year’s week 1 loss was about the most disgusted I’ve been with football in as long as I can remember.

The Broncos beatdown they suffered at the hand of a Joe Gibbs football team in the superbowl is another heartbreaker for me. Obviously that wasn’t a last-second dagger, rather it was an all-day “I can’t believe this is happening” event.

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This thread is just depressing to read through. We have been kicked in the balls so many times.

kick in nuts GIF

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Has to be the 1991 NFC Championship game for me. It’s literally the only important game the Lions have played in my lifetime. Win that and they go to the Superbowl.

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A lot to choose from but the Lions haven’t had many meaningful games in their history so the heartbreak category boils down to… importance of game, how badly they blew it/team took it and team they lost to (level of hate for team).

Two stick out above all else.
Favre to Sharpe in 1993 and the Dallas playoff loss in 2014. Both games they had many opportunities to put the game away and both games had some egregious calls against them and unfortunate circumstance. The 2014 loss ranks higher to me because that team had a chance to make a real run. In my 30+ years of watching Lions, that was the best, most balanced Lions team I’ve ever seen and they got screwed out of an opportunity to maximize their potential.

To the poster above talking about the '91 loss to the Redskins. They never had a chance in that game. I think most Lions fans knew at the time that the Dallas win was their Superbowl and that they would be rolled by the Redskins the next week so I personally wouldn’t rank that anywhere near the top but to each their own.

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In my time as a fan, the 2014 WC loss to Dallas was the worst. Our offense went turtle in the 2nd half after looking dominant in the 1st. Getting hosed by the officials at the worst possible times. Then the cherry on top was the heart of that very good defense leaving in the offseason.

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This is a good topic, and everyone has their own perspective which is encouraged. My perspective, if 50 people are talking about this, then we could easy have a top 10 and that would still be highly debatable; hell at top 20 would be debatable. There’s just so many.

You could pick 5 just from the last five years one would think (how about a 10 second runoff in ATL guys! fun!)

For me though, gotta be Favre to Sharpe. I was there. I’ve told this story before about how close I was to that play.

I was however a teenager at the time; I was aware of something, but hadn’t quite full enveloped what it is to be a fan of THIS team. Therefore as a fully grown adult 25 years or so years later, that Dallas playoff game still really, really stings.

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If I recall correctly, it was, and still is, the biggest point spread going into an NFL conference championship game.

I think it was Redskins -14.

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The Lions weren’t screwed in the Dallas playoff game. They choked.

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Just because it was national stage type game
Though others mentioned I think would be ranked higher

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I haven’t looked at it again, but I recall that Devin Taylor(?) only slightly tugged on Karron’s shoulder pads, giving a green and yellow ref enough cover to throw a flag.