Dan Campbell didn’t mince phrases in his postgame press convention after the Detroit Lions’ 48-42 loss to the Buffalo Bills.
“I didn’t have these guys able to go, not like that,” Campbell mentioned. “Not if you’re taking part in a group like that. That’s with me. We had a variety of guys which have performed so much higher than that, simply total, and in order that tells me that’s (on) me. I didn’t have these guys utterly able to roll.”
It’s not stunning to listen to Campbell fall on the sword. He’s the sort of chief that may take blame even when it’s not his fault. In reality, Lions working backs/assistant head coach Scottie Montgomery talked about precisely that earlier within the week.
“I’ve by no means needed to go tougher for a coach than when he got here in after a troublesome loss this yr, and instantly mentioned it was on him–and it wasn’t,” Montgomery mentioned. “In his thoughts, it was, however (it was) on all of us.”
On Sunday, the Bills had been capable of put up 48 factors, 559 yards of offense and an absurd 8.2 yards per play in opposition to the Lions. It could be straightforward accountable the Detroit’s mountain of accidents on the defensive aspect of the ball. They got here into this sport lacking 4 of their prime 5 linebackers and had a complete of 13 defensive gamers on injured reserve. They ended up dropping one other three on this sport: star defensive deal with Alim McNeill, No. 1 cornerback Carlton Davis, and reserve nook Khalil Dorsey.
Certainly that’s sufficient attrition of expertise to deserve a few of the blame, however when requested if the accidents have lastly caught up with the group, Campbell wasn’t taking the excuse.
“I’m not shopping for it. I’m not. I don’t purchase it,” Campbell mentioned. “We could be higher. We ought to’ve been higher. We know the way good they’re, however that group was extra pressing than us right this moment, total.”
Campbell was fast to level out that effort was not an issue for the Lions. He additionally doesn’t assume that simply because they weren’t on the Bills’ stage Sunday means they’ll’t match up with the very best groups within the league.
“It’s irritating, everyone’s pissed off—the blokes are pissed off—however, you already know what, that’s a part of life, man,” Campbell mentioned. “You lose, and it’s a nasty style in your mouth, and now what are we going to do about it? We’ll sit there and really feel sorry for ourselves? We’re going to bounce again and go to Chicago.”
Onside kick controversy
Early within the fourth quarter, the Lions scored to make it 38-28 with 12 minutes remaining. At that time, Campbell opted for an onside kick. The kick was recovered by the Bills and returned all the way in which to the Lions’ 5-yard line. One play later, the Bills had been up by 17 factors once more.
Campbell was requested to justify his choice for the onside kick.
“I simply thought we’d get the possession. I believed we had been going to get that ball,” Campbell mentioned. “It was certainly one of (Jake) Bates’ finest kicks that I’ve seen him have. That was an enormous kicker on the finish, you already know, that factor took a very good soar on us, and (Bills WR Mack) Hollins made a heck of a play on it. And, you already know, clearly, now sitting right here hindsight after them taking it all the way down to the 3-yard line, yeah, I want I wouldn’t have carried out that, however is what it’s.”
Four minutes later, the Lions would get the rating again to 10, and so they opted for a standard kickoff after that landing. The Bills offense proceeded to take six of the remaining eight minutes off the clock and add a area objective. With the remaining two minutes, the Lions didn’t have sufficient time to erase the 13-point deficit.
So in the long run, neither technique labored out.
