SANTA CLARA, Calif. -- An emotional Dan Campbell strolled out of Levi's Stadium on Sunday evening with his arm wrapped around veteran quarterback Teddy Bridgewater after his team fell to the San Francisco 49ers 34-31 in the NFC Championship Game.
Despite the loss, the third-year Detroit Lions coach continued to hold his head high and said he had no regrets about two critical failed attempts on fourth down in the second half.
"It's easy hindsight. I get it. I get that, but I don't regret those decisions, and it's hard," Campbell said. "It's hard because we didn't come through, and it wasn't able to work out, but I don't. And I understand the scrutiny I'll get -- that's part of the gig -- but it just didn't work out."
After a dominant first half by the Lions gave them a 17-point lead, things turned on their head in the second half -- including a third quarter in which they were outscored 17-0, their worst point differential in a quarter this season. Rookie running back Jahmyr Gibbs had a costly fumble with 5:15 remaining in the third quarter, and the Lions had three dropped passes in the second half.
"A few third downs we wish that we could have converted," said Lions wide receiver Amon-Ra St. Brown, who had seven receptions for 87 yards. "We went for it on fourth down a few times; I wish we would have had those. They played well on defense that second half. We were still moving the ball quite a bit, a turnover and whatnot. We both had one turnover, so it was tough."
One of Campbell's decisions to go for it was on fourth-and-2 from the San Francisco 28-yard line with 7:03 left in the third quarter; Lions quarterback Jared Goff's pass went incomplete to veteran wide receiver Josh Reynolds. ESPN Analytics slightly favored the decision to go for it (90.5% chance to win the game) as opposed to attempting a field goal (90.3%).
The other decision, on fourth-and-3 at the San Francisco 30-yard line with 7:38 remaining in the fourth quarter, was also considered a toss-up according to ESPN's model, which leaned very slightly toward going for it (39.1% vs. 38.8%). Goff threw an incomplete pass to St. Brown.
Campbell generally isn't afraid to pull the trigger on fourth-down situations. The Lions went for it on fourth down 34% of the time during the regular season, the highest rate of any team this century, according to ESPN Stats & Information research. Goff said he is all-in on Campbell's decisions to go for it but noted that the Lions have to convert.
"I love it. Keep us out there. We should convert," said Goff, who completed 25 of 41 passes for 273 yards and a touchdown. "He believes in us. I don't know what the numbers are, but we had a lot of big-time conversions this year that changed games.
"But it can change a game if you convert them, and we didn't, and that's part of the reason why we lost."
Prior to this postseason run, the Lions hadn't won a playoff game since the 1991 campaign. Campbell said Sunday's defeat felt like "getting your heart ripped out" but that the bar has now been raised within the organization.
"It's Super Bowl or bust," Detroit linebacker Alex Anzalone said. "That was our mindset this year, even though the outside people didn't necessarily think that or believe that. But inside our team, that's our standard, and that should be our standard going forward."
After failing to reach the playoffs last season, the Lions tied the franchise mark for most wins in a single season at 12 with this group. However, they have now lost 12 straight road playoff games, the longest such streak in NFL postseason history, with their last away win coming in the 1957 divisional round against the 49ers.
As a player, Campbell appeared in the Super Bowl during the 2000 campaign with the New York Giants but never won a title. After Sunday's game, he told his players how difficult it is to go on deep playoff runs and how they would have to capitalize on this momentum in the future.
The goal, of course, is to go even further next year.
"Look, I told those guys, this may have been our only shot. Do I think that? No. Do I believe that? No. However, I know how hard it is to get here. I'm well-aware. It's going to be twice as hard to get back to this point next year than it was this year," Campbell said. "That's the reality. And if we don't have the same hunger and the same work -- which is a whole nother 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 did or what we add or what we draft. It's irrelevant. It's going to be tough. But then our division's going to be loaded back up. You're not hiding from anybody anymore. Everybody's going to want a piece of you, which is fine. So, 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, and it stings."