After perhaps the Detroit Lions’ best season in 66 years ended when they blew a 17-point halftime lead and lost 34-31 to the San Francisco 49ers in the NFC Championship Game on Sunday night, their fans are greatly disappointed, but also extremely hopeful, and confident.

“We’ll be back next year,” they say. “This is just the start. We’ll eventually get our Super Bowl championship.”

If only it were that simple. If only things really worked that way.

But it isn’t, and they don’t.

Browns fans know that all too well.

What Lions fans are saying now is what Browns fans said after their team blew a seven-point lead late in the fourth quarter and lost 23-20 in overtime to the Denver Broncos — at Cleveland Stadium, no less — in the 1986 AFC Championship Game.

The stars seemed to be all aligned in just the right way, the football gods were smiling upon them and the window of opportunity looked to be wide open for the Browns to win and get to the Super Bowl for the first time.

When it didn’t happen, they came back in 1987 more certain than ever that they would get it done. When they fell again to Denver in the conference title game, they came back in 1988 and tried again. When they lost to the Houston Oilers in the divisional round, they came back in 1989 and gave it one more shot. It didn’t happen then, either, as they were beaten by Denver in the AFC title game.

The window was closed after the 1986 season — things never got that good again — but the Browns didn’t know it and kept attempting to break through.

The Lions are now where the Browns were after the 1986 season, missing out on a Holden chance to make history. For their sake, I hope that sooner or later they get to the Super Bowl. But I really have my doubts.

Steve King