Lions head coach Dan Campbell surprisingly admitted that he told his team they may have blown their “one chance” to make the Super Bowl after Sunday’s embarrassing loss.
Detroit suffered a heartbreaking 34-31 loss to the San Francisco 49ers in the NFC Championship game after blowing a 17-point lead in the second half.
“I told those guys this might be our only chance,” Campbell said after the game. ‘Do I think so? No. Do I believe that? No.
‘But I know how hard it is to get here. I am well aware of it. It will be twice as difficult to reach this point next year as it was this year. That’s the reality. And if we do not have the same hunger and the same work, this is nothing at all.
The Lions hadn’t won a playoff game in 30 years before this year’s postseason run, which should have at least culminated in a trip to the Super Bowl.
Lions’ Dan Campbell admitted the team may have missed their “only shot” at the Super Bowl
The Lions blew a 17-point lead in the second half against the San Francisco 49ers on Sunday
“Once we get into the offseason, we don’t have a chance to come back here,” Campbell said. “I don’t care how much better we get, what we add or what we draft.
‘It’s not relevant. It’s going to be tough. Everyone in our division is loading up again and you’re not hiding from anyone anymore. Everyone will want a piece of you.”
Leaving aside the possibility that the rest of the NFC North will indeed be “full,” Detroit will have a much bigger target behind them, with teams now knowing it will be a tough game when they take the field against the Lions.
Under Campbell’s leadership, the Lions have gone from one of the teams often near the bottom of the league’s standings to one of the hardest to beat in the entire NFL.
Fans in the stands at a Ford Field viewing party were left devastated at the end of the game
During Campbell’s first season in charge of the Lions in 2021, the team finished with a 3-13-1 record. Fast forward to the present and Detroit finished the regular season with a 12-5 record.
They then defeated the Los Angeles Rams and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers before blowing what many thought would be an insurmountable lead against the 49ers.
One thing Campbell and the Lions will have going for them as they try to make up for the NFC Championship collapse, however, is stability at the quarterback position.
Before the loss to San Francisco emerged, there were reports that the team was about to begin talks on a new deal with Jared Goff, who is currently entering the final year of his contract in 2024.