The big, bad Detroit Lions were supposed to be ready to make a deep run this postseason.

Maybe even do something un-Lions-like and reach the Super Bowl.

But quicker than Barry Sanders eluding all 11 defenders on a football field, top-seeded Detroit was sent packing from the playoffs by the upstart Washington Commanders on Saturday.

Washington’s 45-31 victory included turnover-free ball with rookie quarterback Jayden Daniels running the show. Meanwhile, the Lions coughed up the ball five times—three interceptions and a lost fumble by Jared Goff and the other interception on a reverse pass by receiver Jameson Williams.

That franchise-best 15-2 record isn’t feeling so gaudy in the aftermath of this major collapse.

This is the type of setback that will go into Lions’ lore and will only be magnified over time if Detroit doesn’t reach the Super Bowl during this era.

We’ve all seen bushels of bad Lions’ losses because they are annually televised on Thanksgiving Day, and too many of their teams have been awful.

Take the 23-0 home loss to the Minnesota Vikings on Thanksgiving Day in 1988. Detroit totaled 60 yards, had three first downs and possessed the ball just 15:03 in an epic display of offensive failure behind mediocre quarterbacks Chuck Long and Rusty Hilger.

Now certainly, Goff doesn’t belong in a sentence with those two guys, but he picked a really bad day to become a turnover machine.

Lions coach Dan Campbell said he didn’t have this team prepared, and let’s say this: He sure isn’t lying.

Detroit was outplayed and outcoached. Even with Jahmyr Gibbs doing a good Sanders impression with 175 scrimmage yards and two touchdowns, the Commanders were in control for most of the afternoon.

One particular glaring gaffe came when Washington, leading by three points, decided to go for it on fourth down from the Lions’ 5-yard line early in the fourth quarter.

Detroit was in disarray, and players were moving around everywhere, unable to figure out where they should line up. Tom Brady of Fox repeatedly called for a timeout.

There was a big reason for that. The Lions had 12 men on the field. You could count them on your television.

They were penalized, and that gave the Commanders first-and-goal from the 2. They scored a touchdown two plays later.

Campbell said that was his fault—yeah, the lack of a timeout there was a crusher.

After Detroit’s regular season finale against the Minnesota Vikings, Campbell said, “I’ll see you in two weeks,” to Minnesota coach Kevin O’Connell during the postgame handshake.

Well, Campbell and O’Connell have plenty of time to hang out together with their teams underachieving in the postseason.

On the other side of the field, Daniels was playing flawlessly as if he were a veteran instead of a guy playing in his second postseason game.

And suddenly, Washington will be playing in the NFC Championship Game for the first time since the 1991 season—when the club won the Super Bowl.

Washington will be facing either the Philadelphia Eagles or Los Angeles Rams. The Commanders split two games with the Eagles this season and didn’t play the Rams.

In the AFC, the Kansas City Chiefs are headed to the conference championship game for the seventh consecutive season after recording a 23-14 victory over the visiting Houston Texans.

Travis Kelce emerged after I was sure he had left to be a bouncer at Taylor Swift concerts. He stood out with seven receptions for 117 yards and one touchdown.

If this version of Kelce hangs around, the Chiefs have a legitimate chance at hitting their goal of a record third straight Super Bowl victory.

Patrick Mahomes only had 60 other passing yards on a day in which his scrambling overshadowed his arm. His late slide in which two Texans took the brunt of each other’s hits somehow earned a penalty. Another time, Mahomes flopped when lightly pushed at the sideline. That gets you a technical foul in the NBA.

The Texans were irate at some of the penalties called against them—for good reason—but there really wasn’t any point in this game where it felt like Houston could win the contest.

That makes two straight 10-win seasons and two playoff victories for the Texans with quarterback C.J. Stroud. Not bad.