Skip Bayless claims the Lions ‘panicked’ in the second half against the 49ers resulting in them blowing up a 17 point lead

Entering the NFC championship game, Detroit’s defense was ranked 23rd.

Skip Bayless claims the Lions ‘panicked’ in the second half against the 49ers resulting in them blowing up a 17 point lead

Detroit Lions defense and Skip Bayless (Via SI/CNN)

Another year went by, and the Detroit Lions once again missed an opportunity to make their first Super Bowl appearance in franchise history. 

This season, they reached so close yet couldn’t turn it into a victory, despite having a 24-7 halftime lead against the top-seeded San Francisco 49ers. And it looks like sports analyst Skip Bayless already has a theory. 

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Even though the odds were against them, the Lions were notably in full control of the game until halftime. They put enough pressure on opponents’ quarterback Brock Purdy that he struggled to push the bowl around and lead the offense. 

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But after halftime, the game went off-balance for the Lions as they blew up a 17-point lead and ended up in a three-point loss. This made Bayless believe the team ‘panicked’ in the second half of the game, which threw them off their rhythm. 

Entering the NFC championship game, Detroit’s defense was ranked 23rd, and ESPN’s analyst stated they were due to regress at some point of the game, given their solid performance of holding up the Niners at a mere 7 points scored.

How Lions’ poor defense and panic cost them the NFC Championship

In a recent episode of Undisputed, during the discussion about where things go wrong for the Lions in the second half, sports analyst Bayless gave his theory. 

Detroit Lions were 23rd in the league in points allowed, so what happened in the second half was not all that shocking because it should have happened in the first half.
He said
Detroit Lions against San Francisco 49ers, NFC title game
Detroit Lions against San Francisco 49ers, NFC title game (Via Pride of Detroit)

Bayless believed the Lions couldn’t handle the pressure, especially considering they were not very good in defense through the 2023–24 NFL regular season. 

They should have moved the ball a lot better than they did. But they were allowing 148 yards rushing in the first half which is more than Kyle Shanahan’s team ever allowed in his seven years in a full game. They gave up 148 in the first half and then to Keyshawn [Johnson] point, for some reason they said, ‘We got to throw it to hold to our lead.’ They [Lions] just panicked in the second half.
Continuing further, he added

Though he acknowledges the Niners’ victory and ticket straight to the Super Bowl, to be held in Las Vegas, he emphasizes the Lions weren’t that solid a team in offense as well as defense to begin with. 

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