The Detroit Lions might have lost their Week 2 match-up against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers but rather than shift the blame and stir up any kind of drama, head coach Dan Campbell continued to shoulder the brunt of the loss.
As the first half of the game was winding down, Jared Goff completed a pass to keep the clock running. The Lions had no timeouts left and after that pass, the field goal unit prepared to get into position. The problem is that when Goff went to spike the ball to stop the clock, there were way too many players on the field for Detroit so the team was penalized.
This, of course, led to a five-yard penalty and a 10-second run-off, which ended the half. The Lions were unable to take advantage of their 10-play drive to get them into scoring position and entered the locker room at halftime down 13-9. It felt like that moment would come back to bite the Lions and it did.
The Lions went on to lose the game by four points (20 to 16) and had they not been flagged on that play ahead of the half, assuming the field goal is good, they're only down by one point instead of four at the end of the game. They could have kicked the field goal to take the lead at the end of the game and potentially been 2-0 right now.
While I don't want to say that most head coaches would react this way, it feels like a good majority would put the disorganization of the team on those who made the mistake(s). Not Dan Campbell. The Lions head coach took the blame for the error and felt terrible about it after the game.
Former NFL offensive lineman made a good point on X after Washington (the college) head coach Jedd Fisch called out his players for a poor execution on a fourth-and-goal attempt. Campbell would never put something like this on his players and it's one of the many things that makes him such a great head coach.
Contrast this with Dan Campbell of the Lions taking all the blame for a loss. https://t.co/mfgXCwYOnN
— Geoff Schwartz (@geoffschwartz) September 17, 2024
This isn't the first time Campbell has shouldered the blame for a loss. He received heavy criticism for electing to go for it on fourth down in the NFC Championship Game rather than going for the field goal. The Lions were stopped on fourth down and that was the talking point of the game the next day. Campbell was in tears when talking about that decision.
Watching other coaches in sports point the fingers at their own players (just look at what's going on with Brian Callahan and Will Levis in Tennessee) should make Lions fans even more appreciative of Dan Campbell and how he treats his players.