Herm Edwards says the Detroit Lions proved they're not ready to take the next step up by losing the final four games of the season to playoff-caliber opponents. (1:34)

SEATTLE -- They searched for answers and couldn't find them.

Not on the field, where the Detroit Lions' season ended with four straight losses to playoff teams, including a 26-6 loss to Seattle in the playoffs. Not off the field, where they tried to explain why a season that began 1-3 turned into 9-4 and ended with a thud actually happened.

In reality, though, these Lions were pretty close to what many people thought they might be this season: a team that had some really good players but not enough overall talent to become a true contender.

"Anytime that you lose, it's disappointing," Lions coach Jim Caldwell said. "I don't think there's any question about that and it just shows that we have some work to do. Teams played better than we played, and we didn't play well enough."

When it mattered the most, the Lions did not play well enough at all. The offense couldn't move against good defenses in New York and Seattle. The defense couldn't stop potent offenses in Dallas and Green Bay.

And even when they had a stated goal against Seattle in the playoffs -- stop the run -- they failed there, too. They gave up 161 rushing yards to Thomas Rawls, who controlled the game.

The Lions found themselves unsuccessfully chasing a postseason victory yet again. Steven Bisig-USA TODAY Sports

But why did it happen? The Lions couldn't come up with one main theory, and maybe that's because there were a lot of reasons for it. Maybe, in the end, Detroit was a clearly flawed team that for a good portion of the season overachieved.

"It's hard to pinpoint," receiver Marvin Jones said. "Sometimes it happens. You know, we feel like with our talent, that it should never happen. Just stuff here and there that didn't fall right for us but we were always, we were resilient at times and took strides and made the plays that we needed to make to obviously get here.

"But it just wasn’t enough."

That's the problem for the Lions, and where their next step truly lies. There never seems to be enough in big moments. It's why the Lions haven't won a divisional title since the 1993 season and why they haven't won a playoff game since the 1991 season. It's why they lost to every playoff team they faced this season.

As a franchise, Detroit has never seemingly been able to take the last step necessary to be a true contender. It's been close at times -- in the 1990s with Barry Sanders and again now with two playoff appearances the past three seasons.

And there are things they can take from this season to build on in the future.

This is a season in which the Lions found they have a franchise-level quarterback in Matthew Stafford. It's a season in which they made real steps to shedding some of the old labels of the past by (for the most part) beating the teams they should. It's a season where they set an NFL record for fourth-quarter comebacks, but also one where they cemented the league's longest playoff losing streak.

"Every season has its ups and downs," safety Rafael Bush said. "We started off slow. We fought back and put ourselves in position to control our own destiny, and that's all that you can ask for. So we're one of the 12 teams that was here. Obviously there's only going to be one happy team at the end of the year.

"Unfortunately that's not going to be us, but it was a great year. There's always room for improvement and go back to the drawing board and see what you can get better at as an individual."

That's kind of where the Lions are now. They haven't broken through in many key areas, and it's where Detroit must go from here. It's where the Lions need to focus things in Bob Quinn's first full offseason as general manager and heading into Jim Caldwell's fourth season as head coach.

The Lions need to improve their pass rush. They need to solve their running game woes. They need to find a game-changing playmaker on offense and a turnover-creator on defense. They need to work on a lot.

And most of all, if they want to truly be successful, they need to find ways to take Detroit from being where it is -- contending to make the playoffs -- to where it wants to be, which is trying to play for a Super Bowl.