By midway through the fourth quarter, Ford Field was mostly, ghostly quiet. This was the ending no one envisioned, the nightmare performance no one could fathom.

Where did all the noise go? Where did all the poise go? Where did Jared Goff’s throws go? Where did the Lions’ feel-good fervor go?

It left in a staggering deflation that will take the Lions and their fans a long time to sort out. By their ramped-up standards, this was unacceptable, their worst performance at the worst time. Their reign as the NFC’s No. 1 seed with a path to the Super Bowl was over almost before it began, in a crushing 45-31 loss to Washington on Saturday night in their divisional playoff opener.

It’s hard to think of a Detroit sports ouster as shocking and painful as this, by a team as celebrated as this. You could argue the Lions’ injuries on defense piled up and caught up to them. You could point to Goff’s inexplicably poor game, with three interceptions and a lost fumble. You could point to Dan Campbell and his staff pressing too many buttons, and as the scoring escalated, pressing to keep up. All fair points, all requiring critical inspection.

The Lions were nearly 10-point favorites, emboldened by a 15-2 season, the greatest in franchise history. They reached the NFC Championship Game a year ago and fell short, which fueled them.

No one saw this coming, although perhaps we should have. Daniels is a remarkable young player, and the Commanders had their own mystical destiny, going 12-5 and winning a half-dozen games in the closing seconds, then upsetting Tampa Bay in the wild-card round. In the heat of a prime-time showcase, it was the Lions who melted, and the precocious newbies who played with poise and fearlessness.

Campbell and Goff struggled to explain what happened, while giving ample credit to the Commanders. Campbell was on the verge of tears as he said, “It hurts,” again and again.

“Obviously, it sucks,” Goff said. “Worst part of this job and you hate it when you feel like you let guys down. … I wish I played a little bit better, wish I could have taken care of the ball a little bit better.

This was not how the script was supposed to go. Goff built up plenty of goodwill with a career-best season, but those “Ja-red Goff” chants will echo differently during a painful offseason of reflection.

“I don’t want it to sound like we didn’t just play a good team,” Goff said. “Had I played better, do we win? Possibly, and that’s the part that’ll eat me apart for the whole offseason.”

There’s plenty that will eat at the Lions, who believed, for good reason, they were being carried by forces beyond the physical, by the passion of a city, by the power of Campbell’s leadership and the shrewdness of their coaching staff.

You can’t say the moment got too big for the Lions. You can’t say they were victimized by anything other than injuries, which they’d overcome most of the year. It’s hard to say what you can say about the most successful season with the most dispiriting finish.

“It’s not the time to talk about ‘What a great year,’ because at this moment, I don’t think any of us feel that way,” Campbell said.

The Lions’ year-long quest for redemption was wrapped by the slogan “It takes more.” The fans’ white towels in Ford Field declared “We want more.” But in an exhausting clash, the opponent brought more, and the Lions didn’t have enough left.

They’ll be back in contention next season, almost certainly, with some new faces and fresh motivation. The Super Bowl will be the goal again, the path will be difficult again and the harsh reality will remain. It indeed takes more, and even when the Lions thought they had enough, they found there’s always more to dig up.

Briefly

commanders >> Starting right guard Sam Cosmi tore his ACL in the team’s playoff win at Detroit and is out for the rest of the NFL playoffs.

Lions >> Detroit Lions cornerback Amik Robertson broke his arm on the second snap of the loss to the Washington Commanders.

Jets >> New York interviewed Commanders defensive coordinator Joe Whitt Jr. on Sunday for their head coach vacancy.

— From news services