St. Brown: 'I Feel Like (Expletive)'
The Detroit Lions are still recovering from a devastating loss to the San Francisco 49ers in the NFC Championship Game.
Wide receiver Amon-Ra St. Brown was among the team's top performers during a lights-out first half that saw the Lions build a three-score advantage heading into the locker room.
The third-year wide receiver explained the roller coaster of emotions that the game provided during the latest episode of "The St. Brown Bros. Podcast."
"Yeah, it was tough. I mean, bro, we came out on fire," St. Brown explained. "I'm like, 'We're about to smack these dudes.' Any play we ran worked. The run game was killing them, especially the toss cracks, we killed them with those. Everything we were doing was working. I don't know, it felt like we could score 45 points going into halftime."
The momentum turned in the second half as the 49ers mounted their comeback. A big moment in the game occurred when Brandon Aiyuk corralled a catch that bounced off of Lions cornerback Kindle Vildor's helmet.
Though the 'Niners trailed by two scores at the time, that catch invigorated the crowd. In that instance, the Lions knew that the tide was turning.
"The catch that Aiyuk had changed the game," St. Brown said. "They had momentum there at the time, but once he caught that, crazy momentum. They scored that drive, and you could just feel the momentum shift. I was like, '(Expletive), if we don't score here, it might be ugly.' And, we ended up not scoring. ... They got the ball back and scored again, I'm like, '(Expletive).'"
Looking back, the third-year receiver admitted that the team was struggling to grasp just how the 49ers were able to mount their comeback. Coming so close to the ultimate achievement in the NFL, yet coming up short is sure to leave a sour feeling, one that the Lions are currently feeling.
"We didn't make enough plays. I feel like (expletive)," St. Brown said. "On every play of the second half, we took turns on who wasn't doing the right thing. Whether it was receivers, line, running backs, tight ends, quarterbacks, whatever it was, it wasn't working."
His brother, Equanimeous, offered insight as to what he thought the Lions should've done in the second half to stave off San Francisco's rally. He said that the team should've attempted a field goal, instead of going for it midway through the fourth quarter.
"Y'all should've kicked that one, the second one," Equanimeous St. Brown explained. "I'm like, 'Damn.' And then to have a chance, that last drive that you guys scored on. You guys had three timeouts, there's like one minute left, and you guys run the ball. You need all three timeouts in that situation, if you don't get the ball back on the onside kick."
Johnson: 'There's unfinished business'
The Lions caught a huge break early in the offseason with offensive coordinator Ben Johnson's decision to return and bypass head coaching opportunities.
Under Johnson's tutelage, the Lions' offense has become one of the league's most elite units.
Amon-Ra St. Brown said he found out that Johnson was staying early Tuesday, when the coordinator called him to remind him to sign a jersey.
"I'm like, ‘So what’s up with you, you did an interview, are you leaving?’ He’s like, ‘You know what, I’m on my way to the facility right now,’" St. Brown recounted. "He said he couldn’t sleep last night, he was thinking about it, and he said 'There’s unfinished business.' He wants to stay. He said, the guys on the team, shoot, me, Jared (Goff), Frank (Ragnow), Penei (Sewell), (Taylor) Decker, all the guys. He said his heart is in Detroit, he wants to stay. So, he told me that while he was on his way to the facility."
Briefly
Amon-Ra mentioned that Johnson mentioned Equanimeous during their phone call. The Lions wideout recalled that Johnson saw Equanimeous wearing blue, and the coordinator said, "Maybe he'll be here next year."
Equanimeous St. Brown is set to be a free agent after the season. Amon-Ra teased his brother that he wouldn't fit in with the Lions, because of how much the wide receivers block.
