DETROIT — 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.

Ultimately, if it was going to end, this was how it would happen, with the Lions running into an overlooked opponent with the type of dynamic quarterback who could shred their battered defense. Rookie Jayden Daniels was brilliant, and the Lions couldn’t outscheme him, couldn’t catch him. When they rushed, he ran. When he had time, he fired missiles, passing for 299 yards and two touchdowns, running for 51 yards, committing no turnovers and taking no sacks.

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. As it turns out, internal drive can’t always overcome physical limitations. On their first defensive drive, cornerback Amik Robertson became the latest to go down and headed to the hospital to repair a broken arm, pushing the total of missing defensive starters back up to six.

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.

Goff, who didn’t throw an interception during last year’s playoff run, looked uncomfortable from the start, losing a fumble on a sack at Washington’s 22 in the first quarter. The Lions still moved the ball about as effortlessly as the Commanders, as the teams combined for 1,002 total yards and precisely two punts.

But the Lions made all the damning gaffes — 5-0 in turnovers — including a Goff interception on an air-mailed throw over Tim Patrick that Quan Martin returned 40 yards for a touchdown. Goff got clobbered on the return and had to get checked for a concussion as the Commanders went up, 24-14.

Teddy Bridgewater replaced Goff for one series and the Lions struck immediately, as Jameson Williams took a handoff on an end-around and raced 61 yards. He punctuated it with a high-flying hurdle into the end zone, and it appeared Detroit’s top-rated offense would match Washington strike for strike.

But in the closing minute of the first half, on first down from Washington’s 29, Goff misfired badly again. Former Michigan star Mike Sainristil snatched a pass intended for Williams, and the Lions were stuck in a 31-21 deficit at halftime. Goff finished 23 for 40 for 313 yards, one touchdown and three interceptions, and struggled to find the words to explain it.

“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. Obviously, the pick-6 is the one I’d really like back — that was just a poor decision by me.”

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.

But defensive coordinator Aaron Glenn couldn’t dial up another blitzing scheme to stymie Daniels, and that issue goes deeper. The Lions consistently failed to generate pressure from their front four, and that’s the first area that must be addressed. As it turns out, losing the bulk of your defensive line — Aidan Hutchinson, Alim McNeill, Marcus Davenport — isn’t easily patched.

If Glenn and offensive coordinator Ben Johnson indeed depart for head-coach jobs, this sting will linger. The Lions rolled up 521 yards and 30 first downs but tried at least one trick too many. Trailing, 38-28, in the fourth quarter with a first down at their 46, they ran a goofy flea-flicker, with Williams taking a pitch from Amon-Ra St. Brown and throwing downfield. It was intercepted, and moments later, Austin Ekeler ran 35 yards, setting up that touchdown that put it away at 45-28 with 7:31 left.

That’s how oddly this game spun, and how hard it was to keep up. Jahmyr Gibbs was spectacular again with 105 yards rushing and 70 receiving, but he had only 14 carries to go with his six catches. Not enough for the rising superstar.

There were all sorts of untimely, uncharacteristic miscues. With the Commanders facing a fourth-and-2 at Detroit’s 5 in the fourth quarter, the Lions were penalized for having 12 men on the field. Two plays later, Brian Robinson rumbled in from the 1.

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 whole point of doing what you do is to get to the show, man, it’s why you play this game, and we fell short. We just didn’t get it done. I wish I had a better answer, but I’m going to have a lot of time here to really look at it and think about it and figure it out.”

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 discovered there’s always more to dig up.

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