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Eric Woodyard, ESPN
SANTA CLARA, Calif. — An emotional Dan Campbell strolled out of Levi’s Stadium on Sunday evening with his arm wrapped around veteran quarterback Teddy Bridgewater after his team fell to the San Francisco 49ers in the NFC Championship Game 34-31.
Despite the loss, the third-year Detroit Lions head coach continued to hold his head high and said he had no regrets about two critical failed attempts on fourth down in the second half.
“It’s easy hindsight, I get it. I get that, but I don’t regret those decisions and it’s hard,” Campbell said. “It’s hard because we didn’t come through and wasn’t able to work out, but I don’t and I understand the scrutiny I’ll get, that’s part of the gig, but it just didn’t work out.”
After a dominant first half by the Lions gave them a 17-point lead, things turned on their head in the second half — including a third quarter in which they were outscored 17-0, their worst point differential in a quarter this season. Rookie running back Jahmyr Gibbs had a costly fumble at 5:15 in the third and the Lions had three dropped passes in the second half.
“A few third downs we wish that we could have converted. We went for it on fourth down a few times, I wish we would have had those,” said Lions receiver Amon-Ra St. Brown, who caught seven receptions for 87 yards. “They played well on defense that second half. We were still moving the ball quite a bit, a turnover and whatnot. We both had one turnover, so it was tough.”
One of Campbell’s decisions to go for it was on 4th-and-2 from the San Francisco 28 with 7:03 in the third; Lions QB Jared Goff’s pass went incomplete to veteran wide receiver Josh Reynolds. ESPN Analytics slightly favored the decision to go for it (90.5% chance to win the game) as opposed to attempting a field goal try (90.3%).
The other decision on 4th-and-3 at the San Francisco 30 with 7:38 in the fourth quarter was also considered a toss-up, according to ESPN’s model, leaning very slightly leaned towards going for it (39.1% vs. 38.8%). Goff ultimately threw an incomplete pass to St. Brown.
Campbell isn’t afraid to pull the trigger on fourth down situations. The Lions went for it on 4th down 34% of the time during the regular season, which is the highest rate of any team this century, according to ESPN Stats & Information research. Goff says he loves Campbell’s decisions to go for it on fourth down, but noted they have to convert.
“I love it. Keep us out there. We should convert,” said Goff, who completed 25-of-41 passes with 273 yards and a touchdown. “He believes in us. I don’t know what the numbers are, but we had a lot of big-time conversions this year that changed games … but it can change a game if you convert them, and we didn’t and that’s part of the reason why we lost.”
Prior to this year’s postseason run, the Lions hadn’t won a playoff game in more than three decades since the 1991 season. Campbell said the NFC Championship loss felt like “getting your heart ripped out,” but the bar has now been raised within the organization and for guys in the locker room as they move forward.
“It’s Super Bowl or bust,” said Lions linebacker Alex Anzalone. “That was our mindset this year, even though the outside people didn’t necessarily think that or believe that, but inside our team that’s our standard and that should be our standard going forward.”
After failing to reach the playoffs last season, the Lions tied the franchise mark (12) for most wins in a single season with this group. However, they have now lost 12 straight road playoff games, which is the longest road losing streak in NFL postseason history with their last win coming in the 1957 Division Playoffs against the 49ers.
As a player, Campbell played in the Super Bowl in 2000 with the New York Giants, but never won a title. After the game, he told his players how difficult it is to go on these types of deep playoff runs and how they would have to capitalize on this momentum going forward.
The goal now is to go even further next year.
“Look, I told those guys, this may have been our only shot. Do I think that? No. Do I believe that? However, I know how hard it is to get here. I’m well aware. It’s gonna be twice as hard to get back to this point next year than it was this year,” Campbell said. “That’s the reality and if we don’t have the same hunger and the same work, which is a whole ‘nother thing, once we get the offseason then we’ve got no shot of getting back here.
“I don’t care how much better we did or what we add or what we draft, it’s irrelevant. It’s gonna be tough. But, then our division’s gonna be loaded back up. You’re not hiding from anybody anymore. Everybody’s gonna want a piece of you which is fine. So, it’s hard. You want to make the most of every opportunity and we had an opportunity, and we just couldn’t close it out and it stings.”