Dan Campbell seems to assign blame after Lions miss the playoffs

Shortly before the Detroit Lions ended their disappointing season with a Week 18 win, Lions head coach Dan Campbell suggested that the club hit "rock bottom" during a campaign it finished with a record of 9-8.

While speaking with reporters on Monday, Campbell accepted responsibility for what went wrong for the Lions over the past few months. 

Dan Campbell says he was "not good enough" for Lions

"Not good enough," Campbell said about his own performances, per Eric Woodyard of ESPN. "We didn't get in. We underachieved. So, not good. I'd give myself a freaking F."

Campbell took over as Detroit's offensive play-caller during the team's Week 10 victory over the Washington Commanders in November. However, the Lions were unable to notch consecutive wins as they went from 4-1 to 8-5 before they lost three straight games to fall out of playoff contention before the first weekend of 2026 arrived. 

"I don’t know exactly where I’m at with that yet," Campbell said about whether he will continue serving as Detroit's offensive play-caller in 2026, according to Dave Birkett of the Detroit Free Press. "I mean, I guess one of the good things if I did do that, you don’t have to worry about somebody else leaving. You don’t have to worry about your play-caller leaving. So that would be one of the perks of it." 

John Morton was a senior offensive assistant with the Lions during the 2022 season, and he was brought back as the team’s offensive coordinator after former OC Ben Johnson left the club to become head coach of the Chicago Bears last winter. 

Why Dan Campbell will "force" himself to watch playoff games

Roughly 12 months ago, the 15-2 Lions were unable to overcome a significant injury crisis during the playoffs. This January, Campbell and Co. will have to watch postseason games from the comfort of their homes. 

Understandably, he isn't hyped about experiencing such contests from his couch. 

"It's hard to believe that this is it," Campbell added during his comments. "It's going to be a hard pill to swallow watching these teams in the playoffs. But I think you've got to watch them. You've got to force yourself to do it because that's a drive to want to be there, be a part of it."