Dan Campbell sends emotional message after Lions upset loss to Commanders

After a shocking loss in the Divisional Round, head coach Dan Campbell didn't hold back his emotions.

Detroit Lions head coach Dan Campbell had an emotional message for the team after Saturday's upset loss to the Commanders.
Detroit Lions head coach Dan Campbell had an emotional message for the team after Saturday's upset loss to the Commanders. | Gregory Shamus/GettyImages

Nothing went right for the Detroit Lions on Saturday night, and now the team will spend the next seven months until training camp starts wondering what they could have done differently.

The Lions came into the Divisional Round as the NFC's No. 1 seed but will advance no further after a 45-31 loss to the Washington Commanders. There's plenty to blame in the immediate aftermath, from the bizarre Jameson Williams play call late in the game that led to a turnover, to the too many men on the field penalty that cost the Lions momentum, to the interceptions that Jared Goff threw and killed potential scoring drives.

While there's more than a few things fans can point to as reasons the Lions lost, head coach Dan Campbell wants any and all fingers pointed in his direction as the team sifts through the wreckage of its season.

Dan Campbell takes the blame for Lions upset loss to Commanders in playoffs

Part of Campbell's charm is his honesty, which he never shies away from, even in situations where Coach Speak can offer up some coverage in moments like this. Rather than try to sugarcoat anything, Campbell stood in front of the media and took all of the blame for what went wrong against the Commanders.

"We just didn't play great, and I mentioned we didn't complement each other and that's the same thing. At the end of the day, I didn't have them ready," Campbell said. "It's hard to look at it."

Campbell grew more visibly emotional the longer he talked about the feeling of losing so suddenly when everything seemed to be lined up perfectly for Detroit to finally make a Super Bowl run.

"It just hurts to lose, man, and I don't care if you're the seven seed, six seed, five seed, one seed, because I've lost at all of them damn near and it stings," Campbell said. "And it hurts ... it hurts."

Last year when the Lions lost in the NFC Championship Game, Campbell quipped that teams can't blow opportunities they can't be sure they'll ever get again. Those words ring true in the aftermath of what happened on Saturday night, as the Lions failed to return to the title game and now have an even more uncertain future ahead.

Detroit is set to lose both of their top coordinators this offseason, with Ben Johnson and Aaron Glenn expected to take head coaching jobs elsewhere. The Lions will also have to start dealing with the financials of paying for Super Bowl runs, as contracts will only get more expensive from here on out.

Perhaps there's a chance the band stays together one more year, given how things ended, but it's hard not to feel this loss sting even more than the one last year. The Lions roared back to life after disappointment a year ago, but now an even harder uphill climb awaits.

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