Detroit Lions head coach Dan Campbell got emotional after his team was stunned at home by the Washington Commanders.
Campbell took the blame for the Lions’ 45-31 upset loss in the divisional round of the playoffs.
“We just didn’t get it done,” Campbell said postgame. “It’ll be something that I’m going to be, you know, I’m going to have a lot of time here to really look at it, think about it, and figure it out. How do we improve? What do we need to fix? The whats, the whys, the hows, all of it.”
Campbell got emotional moments later.
“It’s hard. You know, when you lose. When you lose these games, man. It’s like the players,’ Campbell said, pausing to collect himself and fighting back tears. ‘What they put into it. A lot of people don’t know what they go through. You have to get up, bodies beat to (expletive). You know, mentally stay locked in and do those things. Long season.”
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The Lions entered the postseason as the No. 1 seed in the NFC for the first time in team history after recording a franchise-record 15 wins. Detroit earned a first-round bye and entered Saturday as the heavy favorite versus the Commanders.
But Jayden Daniels and the Commanders took control by outscoring Detroit 28-14 in the second quarter to take a 31-21 halftime advantage. Daniels and the Commanders were able to keep the momentum going in the second half to shock the top-seeded Lions in Detroit.
The Lions gave up 481 total yards to Washington and committed five turnovers, including four from quarterback Jared Goff (three interceptions, one lost fumble).
“Unfortunate, obviously. It sucks,” Goff said. “Worst part of this job. You hate it when you feel like you let guys down. You want to win these types of games at home.”
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