By Moses Joshua 
The face of Detroit’s defense explains what went wrong, what hurt the most, and why he believes the Lions aren’t as far away as the record suggests.
The Detroit Lions didn’t expect to be cleaning out their lockers this early.
A season that began with Super Bowl dreams ended at 9–8, shut out of the playoffs after a crushing Christmas Day loss to Minnesota. The NFC North crown slipped away. Chicago surged. Green Bay lingered. And for the first time in three years, Ford Field wouldn’t host January football.
Through all of it, Aidan Hutchinson never left the field.
After losing most of 2024 to a devastating leg injury, the Lions’ star edge rusher played all 17 games in 2025, putting together one of the most impressive comeback seasons in franchise history. But numbers only tell part of the story.
“Little parts were letting us down”
Appearing on ESPN’s Postseason NFL Countdown, Hutchinson didn’t sugarcoat what went wrong.
“As a player, it really felt in those critical games, we were not playing complementary football in those moments, and that’s really on all three phases,” he said.
Detroit didn’t lack effort. It lacked cohesion when it mattered most.
“It was sometimes offense, defense, special teams, it was a collective thing where little parts were letting us down and we were losing these close games,” Hutchinson continued. “We ended up 9-8, but it just wasn’t enough to get us in. It was unfortunate, but we’re all looking forward to next year.”
For a team that built its identity on toughness and unity, the inability to close games cut deeper than any stat line.
The weight of being the constant
Hutchinson’s own season was a testament to resilience. After serious doubts about whether he would ever be the same player again, he finished 2025 with 54 tackles and 14.5 sacks — elite production, especially for someone returning from catastrophic injury.
Yet carrying the defense often meant feeling alone out there.
Detroit’s secondary was in constant flux. Kerby Joseph, Brian Branch, Terrion Arnold and Ennis Rakestraw Jr. all missed time. Marcus Davenport was sidelined. Even offensive pillars like Sam LaPorta and Christian Mahogany couldn’t stay on the field consistently.
By Week 18, the Lions ranked second in the entire NFL in total man-games lost to injury.
When Hutchinson was asked how Detroit gets back on track in 2026, his answer was simple.
“To me, defensively, I think it’s get healthy,” he said. “It’s get our secondary healthy, it’s to get all those guys back, and I really think we’re going to have a complete defense.”
Injuries, frustration, and a coach’s defense
With that many bodies falling, fingers inevitably pointed toward the training staff. Head coach Dan Campbell wasn’t having it.
“If you’ve got a major soft tissue issue then it’s more than just the player, in my opinion,” Campbell said at his season-ending press conference. “There’s other factors. We’ve been great. I mean, we do a great job of preparing our players. When you start talking about, ‘It’s an Achilles, it’s a –‘ man, those are, unfortunately those are freak things.”
For Hutchinson, that context matters. He understands how thin the margin is between playoff football and watching rivals celebrate in January.
The road back runs through No. 97
Detroit’s 2025 season will be remembered for missed chances, late-game heartbreaks, and an injury list that never seemed to shrink. But it will also be remembered for Hutchinson’s return — not just as a sack artist, but as the emotional anchor of a battered defense.
The Lions aren’t promising anything. They don’t have that luxury anymore.
What they do have is a 25-year-old star who stared down his own career uncertainty, dragged himself back to elite form, and now carries the belief that Detroit’s best days still lie ahead.
If the Lions truly are going to rise again in 2026, the blueprint has already been written in pain, pressure, and perseverance — and it wears No. 97. 🦁