Dan Campbell wants everyone to know he’ll be OK after the Lions controversial loss to the Cowboys. The emotions of the charismatic Detroit coach have settled back down to “controlled fury.”
He’s also had several days to mull the results. The Lions, at least briefly, looked like they were going to beat the Cowboys Saturday night at AT&T Stadium. With 23 seconds to go, Jared Goff completed a big man two-point try to an offensive tackle Taylor Decker. The score went to 21-20. Then officials stepped in to wipe away the two-pointer, saying the lineman who caught the pass didn’t check in as an eligible receiver. More about that later.
But Campbell has settled down, he said Monday during his weekly press conference.
“I’m good. I woke up yesterday — I’m ready man,” Campbell told reporters. “I’ve got controlled fury, and I’m ready to go. I’m absolutely ready to go.”
The Lions need to immediately dismiss what happened in Cowboy land. After all, they’ve got a final game against the Vikings, their divisional rivals, at Ford Field. Minnesota needs a win for a chance at the playoffs. Conversely, the Lions already are the NFC North winners and currently are the third seed. They can move to No. 2, which means hosting a first-round playoff game at home. However, it’s a longshot. They’d need both the Cowboys and Eagles to lose.
“I don’t go the other way and the team won’t either.”Campbell said. “We are on a mission and we’re not going to feel sorry for ourselves and wallow in everything. We had plays to make and we didn’t make them. It’s a tight game, a good opponent, playoff-type atmosphere and you have to make that one extra play, and we didn’t. So, we will use this as fuel. I got pure octane right now. I woke up and I’m ready. So, we’re moving forward.”
But it could be hard for the Lions to shake the Cowboys hangover. That’s because it looks like the officials got the call wrong. Video shows Decker approaching the referee to tell him he was eligible. Apparently, the official only saw Dan Skipper walking towards him. And it was Skipper who lined up to Decker’s right.
No matter what happened with the Cowboys, the Lions still are the divisional winners for the first time in three decades. Campbell was in high school back home in Glen Rose, Texas, getting ready to play at Texas A&M the last time Detroit won a division.
Campbell stressed that Lions fans shouldn’t consume themselves with possible Cowboys-officials conspiracy theories. He even mentioned his time with the Saints, when the officials screwed up a pass interference call in the 2018 NFC Championship.
“Don’t buy into that. Don’t live in that world, man,” Campbell told reporters. “That will just pull you down. If it makes you feel any better, the NFL is against every team, all right? Because look, I was in New Orleans, so, I know what that feels like. And, but you know what? We walked away. Even in that game, we had chances to win before all that happened, but that one ended it. That was it, man.”
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