DETROIT – They’ve been waiting here for generations for a team like this – rich in talent, armed with creativity and with an incredible offense. For the first time ever, you could say “Detroit” and “Super Bowl” in the same sentence without laughing.

And that was before they reached 12-1 on the season on Sunday after an 11-game winning streak.

Except here in Week 15, in a 48-42 loss to the Buffalo Bills, the familiar, if haunting, sight of the Lions’ injury cart dragging away defensive players continued to crop up.

Already plagued by injuries, with two balls taped together and substitutes, this is the recurring nightmare of an otherwise dream season.

First, cornerback Carlton Davis III was sidelined with a jaw injury and did not return.

Then cornerback Khalil Dorsey was forced off the field with an ankle injury that looked brutal.

Then there was defensive lineman Alim McNeill, a key cog who had just returned from a concussion and hobbled from the field to the blue tent and then to the wagon with a knee injury.

“I’m not comfortable with either of these guys (Dorsey and McNeill),” head coach Dan Campbell said. “Usually when I say ‘not good,’ it’s not good for the rest of the year.”

Forget about losing the game. It’s happening, and Buffalo is a big team with Super Bowl aspirations of its own.

It depended on what was lost. Again.

“No, I don’t buy it, I don’t buy it,” Campbell said of the defensive injuries that cost the Lions the game. “We can be better. We should have been better. We know how good they are, but we should have been more urgent.”

Campbell is a guy who makes no excuses. He has repeatedly said that injuries are part of the deal and that the job is to make sure everyone on the field is good enough and prepared to perform. It is what you want and expect from him.

“I just feel like we didn’t play at the same level as this team,” Campbell said. “That’s why I put this on. I didn’t have them ready.”

Still, the facts are the facts.

The Lions’ injured reserve list was already overflowing with defenders – star defensive end Aiden Hutchinson (broken leg), defensive tackle Mekhi Wingo (knee), linebacker Malcom Rodriguez (torn ACL), cornerback Ennis Rakestraw Jr. (hamstring), safety Ifeatu Melifonwu ( unknown), linebacker Alex Anzalone (forearm), linebacker Derrick Barnes (knee), linebacker Jalen Reeves-Maybin (neck), defensive end Marcus Davenport (triceps), defensive tackle David Bada (Achilles), defensive end John Cominsky (knee) and defensive end Nate Lynn (shoulder).

That’s a dozen, plus three more during the game.

No wonder Allen, who needs little help, led the Bills to 498 yards. He was responsible for 362 (and two touchdowns) passing and 68 more (and two touchdowns) rushing. The Bills stumbled once.

The Lions’ defense was so banged up and banged up that Campbell, trailing by 10 points, called for an aggressive, if telling, onside kick with 12 minutes left in the game. Many thought it was reckless, but it was likely a sign of his lack of confidence in making a defensive stop.

It also failed in spectacular fashion when Buffalo’s Mack Hollins returned the ball 38 yards to the Lions’ 5.

“I thought we were going to get possession of the ball,” Campbell said. “I thought we were going to get the ball… Sitting there now in hindsight and they take it all the way to the (5-) yard line, yeah, I wish I hadn’t done that. But it is what it is.”

One play later, the Bills took a seemingly commanding 17-point lead. Still, with 12 seconds left, the Lions continued to strike, firing off another shot (and nearly recovering) with an onside kick.

That’s how good the Lions’ offense is – hook and laterals, a touchdown pass to an offensive lineman, 494 yards and five touchdowns thrown to quarterback Jared Goff.

In the end, it wasn’t enough and the Lions could find themselves in a three-way tie for the record-tying NFC group at the end of Week 15.

Buffalo picked up the hard-fought victory that some called a possible preview of the Super Bowl. It may be. The Bills are an offensive juggernaut. And although Detroit was defeated, it was the first time since September 15th – a full three months.

“No excuses,” Campbell said. “We weren’t good enough. That was the end result. It was frustrating…but you know what, that’s part of life. You lose and it’s a bad taste in your mouth.

“What are we going to do about it?” he continued. “Are we going to sit there and feel sorry for ourselves? We’ll get back on our feet and go to Chicago.”

For a franchise that hasn’t won anything in the Super Bowl era, the goal remains everything. Maybe that’s too much, too soon, but success in the NFL is fleeting and the window of opportunity is closing quickly.

Campbell says the Lions are built for this. He doesn’t focus on what he doesn’t have, but rather on what he does.

“I think a lot more about finding ways to win games,” he said.

It’s the right answer and his record gives him the benefit of the doubt. But while the injury wagon has been rolled time and again to defense, the underlying question remains.

At what point is too much, too much?