new look detroit lions Always a force to be reckoned with, this season they enter territory that has become unfamiliar of late.

After making the playoffs each of the previous two seasons, the Lions missed the playoffs After becoming one of the preseason favorites.

In 2023, they are this close to making it to the Super Bowl for the first time. Last season, they lost their first playoff game as the top seed.

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Detroit Lions’ Ammon-La St. Brown and running back Jameer Gibbs watch an NFL football game against the Green Bay Packers at Lambeau Field in Green Bay, Wisconsin, on September 7, 2025. (Todd Rosenberg/Getty Images)

“I really think we have all the tools in place and that’s why it’s happening this year because you know we have such a high level of elite talent,” star edge rusher Aidan Hutchinson told Fox News Digital Radio. “I really just think it’s a football issue, a lack of complementary football in key moments. I think different phases let the team down. That includes the defense as well. You have to sit there and say it, and it sucks, but I think that’s what happened. Because we had pieces.”

“I think we just missed the ball here and there. The little things were a little bit off and we had a lot of guys injured, but I’m not going to use that as an excuse because we did the same thing last year. Just gotta clean up some stuff,” running back Jameer Gibbs added. “Everybody’s in the league for a reason. Every team is good. Every team has players getting paid. So, I mean, anybody can beat anybody on any given Sunday, Thursday, Monday, whatever the time is. We just happen to get beat more than we have before. So that’s the way it is.”

Part of the reason the Lions didn’t participate super bowl A lot of people will say that two years ago, Dan Campbell was aggressive on fourth down. But don’t expect anyone on the Lions to disagree with their coach’s mentality.

“We love it,” Amon-La St. Brown said. “We feel good about it, we feel like we have a good offense with guys everywhere that can make plays on fourth down. We feel like we can get it on every fourth down. Dan has instilled that in us since we’ve been there … and we feel like we can get it every time.”

Head coach Dan Campbell watches before the game against the Cleveland Browns at Ford Field on September 28, 2025, in Detroit, Michigan. (Mike Mulholland/Getty Images)

Gibbs’ answer was much simpler.

“We want more points,” he said.

However, one thing the Lions will undoubtedly do is lean on each other. Hutchinson and Gibbs teamed up with Radio Row’s Rocket Mortgage to promote how to be a good neighbor and likened family life to a locker room.

“Be reliable. Always rely on that person to help you no matter what. Like, you need to pick up your package. They will help you,” Gibbs said.

Detroit Lions running back Jahmyr Gibbs (0) celebrates his touchdown against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers during the second half of an NFL football game on Monday, October 20, 2025 in Detroit. (AP Photo/Ryan Sun)

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“That’s really what the Rockets are all about,” Hutchinson added. “In their culture, they preach being a good neighbor, being kind and spreading kindness. When I think about teammates and neighbors, the most important thing is reliability. I think the severity of the situation changes in the game and the pressure is a little bit greater, but it’s a similar level of reliability.”

When asked if he was missing anything to get over the hump, Penny Sewell echoed Hutchinson’s teammates about having the right pieces.

“Nothing came to mind,” Sewell admitted.

“But I will tell you,” Hutchinson added, “once we all get back to OTAs, we all know what’s at stake. We all know how much is invested in this team and how much talent we have. So we’re going to continue to grind, compete in practice, compete in games and really become the best version of ourselves.”

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