'It Just Hurts to Lose,' Emotional Coach Says

After the Detroit Lions won a team club record 15 games this season, head coach Dan Campbell was not used to losing. And he didn't expect his team, the No. 1 seed in the NFC, to fall 45-31 in the divisional round of the playoffs to the Washington Commanders—at home, even. When that happened on Saturday night, Campbell became emotional in trying to explain it at the postgame news conference, having to pause at times and fight back tears, USA Today reports. "It's hard. You know, when you lose," he said.

Campbell talked about what the players go through in a long season—"You have to get up, bodies beat to s---." He offered no excuses, per ClickonDetroit, saying that "We just didn't complement each other" and that he didn't have his players ready: "It's my fault." The Lions made victory hard to achieve by giving up 481 total yards to the Commanders and turning the ball over five times. The Detroit locker room was somber afterward, per ESPN, with players comforting quarterback Jared Goff, who threw three interceptions and lost a fumble. "It just hurts to lose, man," Campbell said. Detroit fans leaving Ford Field felt the same way, per the Detroit News. "I was expecting to be celebrating," one said. (More Detroit Lions stories.)