Lions star Amon-Ra St. Brown opens up about team's 'shocking' loss to Jayden Daniels-led Commanders
The Detroit Lions suffered a shocking loss to the Washington Commanders in the divisional round. On Wednesday's episode of the "St. Brown Podcast," Lions star wide receiver Amon-Ra St. Brown talked about the elimination and last year's loss in the NFC championship game to the San Francisco 49ers. He said:
"This one was more shocking. Last year feels like it hurt a little more because we were so close. Even at half-time, I was like ok, we’re going to the Super Bowl, we just need to finish this second half. This year, we didn't even get to the NFC Championship.
“They both hurt bad. This one was more shocking, and last year hurt a little more.”
Last year, the Lions won the wildcard playoff round (24-23 vs Rams) and the divisional playoff round (31-23 vs Buccaneers) to make it to the NFC championship game. They ultimately came up short against the 49ers.
Amon-Ra St. Brown comments on the difficulty of playoff football
In the same episode, St. Brown commented that an impressive regular season does not mean much in the NFL. The Detroit Lions led the NFC with a 15-3 record and were the #1 seed heading into the playoffs.
“You could do all you want in the regular season," he said. "When the playoff hits, none of it matters. Every team is going to be disappointed except for one. That's crazy. Everyone thinks they're going to win until they don't."
Amon-Ra St. Brown had an impressive individual performance against the Commanders. Despite facing tight coverage all game, he had eight receptions for 137 yards. It capped off a regular season where he had 115 receptions, second in the NFL. He finished with 1,400 yards total for the season combined.
Reflecting on the game, St. Brown felt that the five turnovers were the difference.
"The turnovers killed us. On offense, we were moving the ball. We were able to scare at will. If we hadn't had the turnovers, it would've been a lot different, but obviously, we had the turnovers.
He said that the Commanders had a better overall game than the Lions.
"They played a better game than us. They deserved to win. They played better than us. They played better than us on special teams too. They were humming on special teams too."
Amon-Ra St. Brown believes the Lions will be back
Despite the setback, St. Brown believes in his team’s chances to bounce back.
“We’ll be back. We’ll be back. That might be our last chance. As of right now, that stands true it didn’t go down as a championship.”
St. Brown signed a contract extension with the Lions that runs through 2028. He will now have the rest of the offseason to stew on what could have been and prepare for another championship run next season.