Dan Campbell has always been a coach who doesn’t blame his team or staff for problems.
On Sunday, he took full responsibility for a major mistake in the second quarter that contributed to the Lions’ 20-16 loss to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
“I asked our team to get better from last week and they did improve,” Campbell said. “But then I made a critical error. That’s entirely my fault, and I told them that.”
With 18 seconds left in the first half and no timeouts left for the Lions, Jared Goff completed an 8-yard pass to Amon-Ra St. Brown in the middle of the field. St. Brown was tackled at the Tampa Bay 9-yard line, and the clock kept running.
As Goff tried to hurry the offense for a quick spike, the Lions’ field-goal unit mistakenly ran onto the field, then ran back to the sidelines.
By the time Goff managed to spike the ball, only four seconds were left, but the referees flagged the Lions for having too many players on the field—there were actually at least 20. With the clock running in the last two minutes of the half, the Lions were given a 5-yard penalty and a 10-second runoff, which ended the half.
If the Lions had been able to kick a field goal, they would have been down by four points at halftime instead of seven. This could have left them down 20-19 in the final minute, giving them a chance to kick a winning field goal.
Instead, needing a touchdown, the Lions turned the ball over on downs with 53 seconds left. The defense held the Buccaneers, but on their next drive, Goff threw three consecutive incomplete passes from the Buccaneers 26-yard line.
On fourth-and-10 with six seconds remaining, Goff threw a short pass that Tom Kennedy couldn’t catch, ending Detroit’s chance for a last-minute play.
“We had a plan for that play,” Goff said. “I just made a bad throw.”
Goff didn’t think the first-half mistake was the main reason for the loss, but he appreciated Campbell’s acknowledgment.
“He’s the head coach, and when he takes responsibility—like he always does—it makes it easier for everyone else to do the same,” Goff said. “But we had plenty of chances to win despite that.”
