Lions coach Dan Campbell: ‘We have to learn to win’
Dan Campbell remains winless as the head coach of the Detroit Lions. For the third time in 11 games, Campbell’s Lions lost in Week 12 on a last-second, game-winning field goal by the opponent. The Bears beat the Lions, 16-14, at Ford Field in the Thanksgiving matinee.
It was a frustrating game for the Lions, who led the entire fourth quarter and played solid defense throughout the game until the final drive. Campbell echoed the frustration in his postgame press conference while also defending his players and their effort.
“They all want it. It’s not like we don’t all go to work and we just, ‘Well, we’re punching in and punching out and we’ll see what happens.’ We all want to win,” Campbell said after the game. “We’re playing to win, those guys, you can see that out there. And I know it’s hard to see from afar because everyone wants the wins and the losses, and all of us do. But these guys are like laying it on the line and giving it everything they’ve got right now.”
Coach Campbell continued, expressing why he’s still hopeful and believes in his Lions,
“It’s just a matter of we have to learn how to win. We have to learn how to win. Once we learn how to win then we can begin to see the fruits of our labor a little bit. But the effort is there. The effort and the fight and the fact that here we are, three games in a row—we’re right there at the very end. And there again, I see improvement. I sit there and watch and I see some of
these guys getting better and better. What encourages me is the fact that I know the core of this team. I know the vets we’ve got and some of these young guys. This is a—these guys aren’t going to lay down. They’re not going to—that’s not what these guys are made of. That’s what keeps me hopeful. I know that we are building something.”
Some questionable decisions by Campbell and his coaching staff did not help their players build an initial victory on Thursday. The defense has allowed just 45 points in the last three games, but it’s resulted in just one tie and two losses.
