Detroit has lost its heart and soul…can it now win a Super Bowl without Aidan Hutchinson?

DETROIT – It's been a beautiful fall here in Detroit – day after day of 70's gentle breezes and sunshine. Few clouds. No storms. Construction cranes continued to work in the revitalized city center, completing skyscrapers and new condominiums. The Tigers got hot and provided baseball's unique burst of energy for a few weeks.

And the Lions…the Lions kept winning, now 4-1.

Here in a city accustomed to political insults and outsider status, a strange phenomenon had gripped the people and the place – life as a favorite. It's still too new to expect a win – it's not because of Kansas City or New England before it.

But Dan Campbell's crew Is undeniably good – even great. Attack. Defense. Coaching. Stars appear. Role players have stepped up. There are plays, even trick plays. Somehow Jameson Williams seems to be getting faster every week. The Lions are capable of not just beating anyone, but beating them.

There's nothing better for a fan than showing up.

Discussions about the Super Bowl, which had been nothing but the terrain of delusion for generations, were more than reasonable. The team has few obvious weaknesses and unexpected strengths. Only history has led to hesitation.

Rain finally arrived here late Sunday afternoon – meteorologically speaking, a cold drizzle and then a heavy downpour that was the first sign of winter to come.

Then, metaphorically speaking, Aiden Hutchinson broke his tibia in the middle of a thrilling 47-9 win over the Dallas Cowboys.

Likewise, the satisfaction of the kind of Sunday afternoon that is so rare here – their team delivered complete dominance on national television – was sapped by an injury so visually gruesome that Fox didn't want to show it and emotionally painful no Lions fan even wanted to think about it.

“It’s tough,” Campbell said afterwards.

The immediate reaction is that Detroit may have won the game but lost the Super Bowl, although only time will tell.

Hutchinson's impact on the field is undeniable – he leads the NFL in sacks (7.5) – and his mere presence opened up play for other defensive linemen like Alim McNeill (2.5 sacks) and Levi Onwuzurike (1.5 , 12 tackles). Not to mention he helped a young but impressive secondary (three interceptions against the Cowboys).

However, the statistics are the statistics. There's no one in the league who plays harder than Hutchinson; He seems to take every play as if it were the last play in the Super Bowl. He chases ball carriers. He pushes back into the field. He is relentless and undoubtedly sets the tone in every moment of the game, but also in training.

In Brad Holmes, Detroit may have one of the best general managers in the league. The draft pick he was a part of transformed a discouraged, dying franchise into a roster brimming with talent. He did so while retaining future draft capital and $28.5 million in cap space in case of emergency, according to OverTheCap.com.

Hutch, who is recovering from surgery at a Dallas hospital Sunday evening, would be considered such.

So maybe they can trade in a replacement, be it a Maxx Crosby (Las Vegas) or a Myles Garrett (Cleveland) or a more sensible Trey Hendrickson (Cincinnati) or Travon Walker (Jacksonville) or Jadeveon Clowney (Pittsburgh).

What Holmes and Campbell have built — both in attitude and skill — is more than a player, even a warrior father of an edge rusher. The crime is serious. The defense is brutal. There's too much here. When Campbell handed the game ball to Jared Goff for his three-touchdown performance on Sunday, Goff quickly gave it back to Campbell, a Dallas native and former Cowboy who had beaten his old team.

“Our (expletive) head coach is now our (expletive) rock,” Goff said.

The season, let alone the Super Bowl, is anything but lost.

Still, there's something about doing it without Aiden Hutchinson that left an unease over Detroit, even as the blue skies returned Monday morning and drained the puddles.

Hutchinson is one of them. He wasn't brought here; he is from here. He grew up in Plymouth, the son of a Michigan Wolverines legend. He played at Divine Child in Dearborn and then himself at U of M. In 2021, he powered the team that eventually bullied Ohio State, won the Big Ten and reached the College Football Playoff.

When the 2022 NFL Draft came, he wasn't looking to go first overall – to Jacksonville, where Walker was selected. He wanted Detroit. He wanted the Lions. The team's heartbeat was already taking shape – Goff had been traded and Holmes had selected offensive lineman Penei Sewell, receiver Amon-Ra St. Brown and both Onwuzurike and McNeill.

Hutchinson brought star power and credibility. When he sang — and danced — to Michael Jackson's “Billie Jean” on “Hard Knocks” this summer, he seemingly galvanized the fan base. The possibilities were kind of obvious.

He was the symbol of the team, the city, the collective hopes born of decades of better knowledge.

The sacks and tackles and maybe even the leadership can be replaced. It's the next man's turn. The endgame is still the plan.

At the best of times, however, a player is more than his performance, even in the NFL's bottom line.

As the weather and opportunities improved for the Lions, the disappointment continued. No Hutch. The dream is still alive, but it's not quite the same either.