Detroit Lions head coach Dan Campbell thinks he set his team up for failure last season with the messages he sent.
The Lions won the NFC North and the top overall seed in the NFC Playoffs by going 15-2, but lost in their first playoff game to the Washington Commanders. In a new interview with WXYZ in Detroit, Campbell confessed that he thinks his messaging led the Lions to get too complacent after achieving the goal of securing the No. 1 seed.
“There was a little part of me last year, I’m like, Man, did I put such an emphasis on the one-seed, playing at home, all these things that it was almost like — the set of circumstances, we had a bunch of injuries — that it was like, [sigh]. We took a deep breath,” Campbell said. “And then it was like, ‘Oh man, we reached one of those goals,’ but the ultimate goal is the Super Bowl.”
“So I just, in my own head, did I set us up for failure by the way that I spoke about it? I think about little things like that. Whereas, you know what? We didn’t lose on the road last year. What if we had gone on the road?”
Campbell is quick to take responsibility when his team loses, but last year’s playoff exit was particularly shocking. The Minnesota Vikings pushed them all the way to Week 18, giving them no real opportunity to exhale. Their playoff bye may have given them an opportunity to do that when they shouldn’t have.
Of course, Campbell was plenty confident in his team heading into the playoffs. Still, the messaging will clearly be different in Detroit this season.
