For Lions, 2024 Season Will Be 'Twice As Hard'
After the Detroit Lions squandered a 24-7 halftime lead, a devastated Dan Campbell struggled to find the words to describe the emotions he felt.
Known for being a passionate leader, Campbell was emotional as he answered questions pertaining to the team's 34-31 NFC Championship loss to the San Francisco 49ers.
The Lions organization was in unfamiliar territory in Sunday's game, having been to just one other NFC Championship game in their franchise history. Because of this, Campbell knows how opportunities like this are fleeting.
"Like I told the guys, this might've been our only shot. Do I think that? No. Do I believe that? No," Campbell said. "However, I know how hard it is to get here, I am well aware. It's gonna be twice as hard to get back to this point next year than it was this year. That's the reality, and 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've 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."
Entering this season, the Lions were among the popular teams among the league to outperform expectations. They did just that, and as a result will wear a target on their back as reigning NFC North champions.
One of their division rivals, Green Bay, also took San Francisco to the brink last week. Like Detroit, the Packers have plenty of young talent. After Sunday's loss, Campbell admitted that repeating this year's success will be difficult, as a result of the challenges that each NFC North team presents.
"It's gonna be tough. Our division's gonna be loaded back up, and you're not hiding from anybody anymore, everybody's gonna want a piece of you. Which is fine, which is fine," Campbell said. "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. It stings, it stings."
The Lions dominated the first half, and took a three-score lead into the break. Yet, there was little celebrating, as Campbell has hard-wired his team to understand the ebbs and flows of a game.
All season, the team had been conditioned to bounce back when faced with difficulties. However, the Lions were unable to slow the 49ers down once they got on their run.
While games are never won or lost on one play, specific moments have the ability to turn the tide of big games. On Sunday, the Lions were mired in the second half by drops, an extraordinary catch and a costly fumble.
As a result, the Lions are forced to remember the little moments that ultimately denied them a chance at further history.
"I think one of the things you always tell everybody that's never been here, and particularly the young players, is you don't know which play is gonna make the difference, which one," Campbell explained. "You say that every game, but when you get in there with a heavyweight like 'San Fran,' but it is the difference. Sometimes, you can only say so much, you've got to live it unfortunately. You've got to get your heart ripped out, which we did, and it's a lesson learned."
