'Critical Error': Dan Campbell Blames Himself for Loss

Lions committed costly penalty to end first half against Buccaneers.

Detroit Lions head coach Dan Campbell watches a play against Tampa Bay Buccaneers during the second half at Ford Field in Detroit on Sunday, September 15, 2024. / Junfu Han / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

The Detroit Lions have nobody to blame but themselves for their disappointing 20-16 loss to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in Week 2. 

Perhaps most notably, too, an unforced error cost the Lions dearly to end the first half. 

After Brian Branch came up with an interception of Buccaneers quarterback Baker Mayfield, Jared Goff and the Lions’ offense regained possession at Tampa Bay’s 45-yard line at the two-minute warning. Goff & Co. proceeded to march down the field, all the way to Tampa Bay’s 9-yard line with 0:17 to play in the half. Subsequently, Detroit was in prime position for a Jake Bates field-goal attempt.

Yet, just when it looked like the Lions would get on the scoreboard before halftime, something went horribly wrong. Detroit was caught with 17 men on the field, as it brought its field-goal team onto the field while Goff went to spike the ball after an Amon-Ra St. Brown 8-yard catch in bounds. It resulted in a too-many-men-on-the-field, 5-yard penalty and an automatic 10-second clock runoff, negating any chance the Lions previously had to get three additional points going into halftime.    

Lions head man Dan Campbell took full accountability for the mistake in the immediate aftermath of the game. 

“Their coach cost them. Their head coach cost them,” Campbell said in the postgame. “So, critical error to end the half, and 100 percent on me. We improved, there’s areas where we’ve got to continue to improve on. But, it’s not okay.” 

It was an exemplary moment of leadership from the fourth-year Detroit head coach, and a variety of his players, including defensive lineman DJ Reader, commended him for it after the game. 

“I think everybody kicks themselves. It’s good to hear everybody take accountability. You come in here and he wears his heart on his sleeve, he tells us how it is. You can respect that,” Reader said of Campbell. “I’ve been a player in this league, I’ve been here for a long time. I’ve heard a lot of speeches of, ‘We’ve just got to do this, we’ve just got to do that.’ That (expletive) flies over your head. Eventually, you stand up there and pour your heart out, everybody’s looking you in the eyes. We understand. We get it. We all make mistakes, so it’s not like we’re beating him over the head for it. We can tell he cares. That’s why he leads and we follow.”

As Goff, who threw two interceptions in the Week 2 affair, admitted in the postgame, the Campbell blunder wasn’t the only reason why the Lions fell to Mayfield and the Buccaneers Sunday. Goff also took blame for the loss, and echoed Reader’s sentiment that Campbell is an admirable leader. 

“He’s at the top of the pyramid here, and when the guy at the top takes accountability like he has throughout his career and even today, it makes it all easier for everyone else to take accountability when they’re at fault,” Goff said. “I know he did take accountability for that, but we had plenty of opportunities to overcome that and make the plays to win the game. And, I know he’s going to be hard on himself. But, as players, we have to be better. I’ve got to be better, I’ve got to pick him up, I’ve got to pick up other guys and other guys have to pick up me. That’s how we win, and unfortunately, we couldn’t overcome too many mistakes today.” 

Linebacker Derrick Barnes, who finished with five total tackles and a pass defensed, agreed with Goff that the loss shouldn’t be placed upon the shoulders of Campbell. He and his Lions teammates, as Goff also conveyed, didn’t make enough plays to win the game. 

“No, it’s not on him,” Barnes said of the Week 2 loss. “We’re the players, we go out there and play the game. We can draw up all the X’s, O’s that we want to, but at the end of the day, the players are the people that go out there and do it. He goes with his gut, and that’s why I really respect him as a head coach. Whatever he believes, we’re gonna believe. We’re bought into whatever he wants to do, that’s what we’re gonna do. We’ll never blame him for any game, at all. 

“When he said that, it kind of hurt me, because he shouldn’t be taking the blame for that. He thought it was best for the team, and I don’t even know if the scenario didn’t turn out the way it’s supposed to be. But no, you can never let a head coach take blame for that. We’re players, we’ve got to go out there and make something happen.”