The Detroit Lions suffered a demoralizing playoff loss Sunday night to the San Francisco 49ers to culminate an otherwise surprisingly great season, but head coach Dan Campbell pulled no punches in dissecting the loss with his team.
“Look, I told those guys, ‘This may have been our only shot,'” Campbell told reporters after the game. “Do I think that? No. Do I believe that? No. However, I know how hard it is to get here. I’m well aware. And it’ll be … it’s gonna be twice as hard to get back to this point next year than it was this year. That’s the reality.”
Campbell’s Lions had worked their way into the NFC Championship game just two years after he took over the team and posted a 3-13-1 season in 2021.
SANTA CLARA, CALIFORNIA – JANUARY 28: Head coach Kyle Shanahan of the San Francisco 49ers hugs Head coach Dan Campbell of the Detroit Lions following the NFC Championship Game at Levi’s Stadium on January 28, 2024 in Santa Clara, California. San Francisco defeated Detroit 34-31. Thearon W. Henderson/Getty Images
Their meteoric rise from bottom feeders to playoff juggernauts was one of the best storylines of the postseason. Still, the feel-good story ran into a brick wall in San Francisco, and Campbell warned his team how hard it would be to get back. Ultimately, the Lions fell to the 49ers 34-31. (RELATED: ‘One Of The Greatest Play’s I’ve Ever Seen’: Lamar Jackson Catches His Own Pass For An Unbelievable First Down)
“If we don’t have the same hunger and the same work, which is a whole other thing, once we get to the offseason, then we got no shot of getting back here. I don’t care how much better we get, or what we add or what we draft. It’s irrelevant. It’s gonna be tough.”
The full Dan Campbell quote here is important, before bits go viral:
“I told those guys, ‘This may have been our only shot.’ Do I think that? No. Do I believe that? No. However, I know how hard it is to get here. It’ll be twice as hard to get back to this point,” he said. pic.twitter.com/uUYAvOdV1T
— Brad Galli (@BradGalli) January 29, 2024
The man they call Motor City Dan was highly scrutinized for his high-risk play calling. Twice, he went for it on fourth down and failed to convert. But it’s exactly that riverboat gambling mentality that helped Campbell power his team so deep into the playoffs in the first place.
SANTA CLARA, CALIFORNIA – JANUARY 28: Head coach Dan Campbell of the Detroit Lions reacts during the second quarter against the San Francisco 49ers in the NFC Championship Game at Levi’s Stadium on January 28, 2024 in Santa Clara, California. Ezra Shaw/Getty Images
Campbell concluded his remarks by expressing how much more difficult next season would be for Detroit now that the Lions are known contenders.
“Our division’s gonna be loaded back up, and, you know, you’re not hiding from anybody anymore. Everybody’s gonna want a piece of you, which is fine, you know, which is fine. So it’s hard. You want to make the most of every opportunity, and we had an opportunity. We just didn’t close it out.”