By Blessing 
Former NFL wide receiver Allen Robinson didn’t hold back when reflecting on what could’ve been for the Detroit Lions in the 2024 season. During a recent appearance on “The Heavyweights” podcast, Robinson shared his belief that injuries robbed the Lions of a legitimate shot at the Super Bowl.
“To me, it felt like, based on the injuries, it felt like we were a team — our grip slipped off of a cliff. That’s what it kind of felt like,” Robinson explained. “As we were getting injured and more people were getting injured, it was like we were just kind of losing grip.”
Detroit had a dream regular season, finishing 15-2 and earning the top seed in the NFC for the first time in franchise history. Hopes were sky-high heading into the playoffs, but injuries mounted at the worst possible time. Robinson, like many fans and analysts, feels that a fully healthy Detroit squad could’ve gone all the way.
“As far as personnel-wise, a healthy team, a lot of people say this, but I think last year a healthy Detroit team — we win the Super Bowl,” Robinson said. “That’s easy to say sometimes. But as well as, when you get into those playoff games and situations when you’re playing a Jayden Daniels, you need everybody healthy.”
Injuries piled up to the point where General Manager Brad Holmes recently revealed on a podcast that the front office was scrambling to sign players from other teams’ practice squads just to stay afloat.
Robinson pointed out the significance of those missing pieces. “At the end of the day, if we had Hutch (Aidan Hutchinson) healthy, if we had some of the players in the secondary healthy. We had C.D. (Carlton Davis), he was hurt, and some of our other linebackers, Alim (McNeill) was hurt,” he said. “When you’re playing against those caliber of players that deep into the playoffs, you need everybody.”
Though the Lions boasted strong depth throughout the regular season, the playoffs exposed just how costly those injuries truly were.
“Injuries have a big impact,” Robinson emphasized. “You need everyone when the lights are brightest.”