24-7. That was the score in favor of the Lions at halftime in the NFC conference finals. Figures that are likely to haunt Detroit and Dan Campbell for a while.
The Detroit Lions had the game in hand. However, they will not play in the Super Bowl.
Everything moves very quickly in the NFL. Everything depends on a match. A wound. A lost ball. And no one is guaranteed to return to the top. The Eagles saw that this year. The Bengals haven't seen the Super Bowl since their loss to the Rams.
Dan Campbell knows this.
“I told my guys that this was perhaps our only opportunity,” the coach explained to the press after the lost match against the 49ers. “Do I think so?” No. Do I believe it? No. But I know how hard it is to reach this level. And it will be twice as hard to get back to this level next year. It is reality. And if we don't have the same hunger and we don't work as hard, then we have no chance of getting back to that level.
I don't care who we recruit or who we draft. It does not matter. It's going to be hard. Everyone in our division is going to be armored. And we won't be able to hide anymore. Everyone is going to want to hit us. And so much the better.
So it's hard. You have to take advantage of every opportunity. We had an opportunity, and we couldn't finish it. »
The Detroit Lions have no regrets on 4th attempts
Conclude, Dan Campbell tried to do this by being aggressive. The Lions have attempted 34% of their fourth down attempts this season. More than any team in the NFL. They continued on Sunday.
On a 4th & 2 from the 49ers' 28 yards in the middle of the third quarter. A field goal would have given them a 17-point lead. Jared Goff's pass to Josh Reynolds is missed.
On a 4th&3 from the opposing 30 yards with 7mn32 to play while Detroit only had a 3 point lead. Goff for St. Brown, missed. San Francisco scores the knockout touchdown in stride.
“It’s easy in hindsight. I understand. But I don’t regret these decisions, and it’s hard,” assured Campbell. “It's hard because we didn't succeed, it didn't work, but I don't regret it. And I understand that it's going to be dissected, it's part of my job, but it just didn't work. »
Jared Goff has no regrets either. He also assured the press.
” I adore. Leave the offense on the field. We have to convert,” explained the quarterback. “He believes in us. I don't know what the numbers are, but we've had a lot of big conversions that have changed games this year. »
Brock Purdy: “No one panicked”
And on the 49ers side? Kyle Shanahan and his men seemed elsewhere in the first half. Their body language was sometimes disturbing. However, they did not lose the thread and came back into the match to win.
“No one panicked,” Brock Purdy assured the press. “It’s American football. There are a lot of experienced guys on this team. Veterans who have been in crazy situations. So everyone was like, “We just have to do our job.” » We kept it simple. We all knew what to do. The season was being played out, we were down by 17 points, from which everyone raised their heads and we played good American football.
