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Detroit Lions head coach Dan Campbell, right, talks to Kansas City Chiefs head coach Andy Reid after 30-17 loss Junfu Han / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Everything Dan Campbell Said Following Detroit Lions Loss to Chiefs

Originally posted on Detroit Lions on SI
By John Maakaron | Last updated Oct 13, 2025 10:01 AM ET

Here is everything Dan Campbell told reporters, following the Detroit Lions 30-17 loss to the Kansas City Chiefs.

Opening statement

Let me start with this. I love Brian Branch, but what he did is inexcusable and it's not going to be accepted here. It's not what we do. It's not what we're about. I apologize to Coach Reid and the Chiefs and JuJu Smith-Schuster. That's not okay. That's not what we do here and it's not going to be okay. He knows it. Our team knows it. So, that's not what we do. As far as the game, we just didn't make the plays we needed to make. We were able to do some good things in phases at times, but it's not enough for a team like that and with the pedigree they have and the way they play back at their house, we could not complement each other, and we weren't able to really make it a game. We really weren't, so that's really the story of the game.

What level of disappointment do you have overall?

Yeah, I'm disappointed because it's been a long time since you're watching somebody knee it three times in front of you, and it's not even close. You're down two scores. We got worked pretty good, so it's disappointing. It's really disappointing.

How were the Chiefs able to take control in the second half?

Well, I would say that they got some things going really from the time that they came out at halftime. They were able to take it all the way down and turn that into points, which they did it at the end of the half too. So that was how they kind of got the 2-for-1 because we couldn't get points on the offensive side. Really, we knew more importantly that I felt like this was going to be a game that we were going to need to score 30 points at least and we couldn't. That is where more of this came from is that we weren’t able to get the points required to give ourselves a chance here at the end of the game. Defensively, yes, there are some things that we had opportunities there that we have to capitalize on. We got no takeaways and just a couple of things that showed up, but really, the offense, we knew we needed to show up here. We needed to show up and we weren't able to do it. Seventeen is not enough. It's not enough. It's not close.

Amon-Ra St. Brown’s uncharacteristic drop and what kind of impact that had in the fourth quarter

Yes, but I go back to this. Look, Saint has made a ton of plays for us. What frustrates me more than anything is that then after that point, what is the next play we have to make to get ourselves back in it? That is the ‘where is it going to come from?’ Are we going to get the takeaway on defense or special teams or offense when we get time to answer back? Can we go down and do something with it? We didn't convert. It was fourth down. It was a big play, but there were a number of plays. I really felt like, speaking of the first half, there were three plays in there and if we make any one of them, the game is really a lot different in the first half. We didn't do it.

What three plays do you think of?

We had a couple of penalties that were big that hurt us at the wrong times and that drop hurt. We get off the field on some of those on defense.

On Kansas City’s crossing patterns and movement confusing the defense

No, I wouldn't say that. I felt like everything that they had shown is what we had worked on. What they do a good job of is they create rubs with those. It's one thing to know who you have and your responsibility, and it’s another to get through the trash, right? So they do a great job of it, and we just couldn't get through some of that stuff. We got picked a couple of times on those. They executed and we didn't.

What explanation did you get from the refs about Jared Goff’s touchdown to start the game and did you agree?

Well, it doesn't matter if I agree or disagree. I know it came from New York, and they said he never stopped, he stayed in motion, he can't stay in motion. That was that. That had no bearing on the game. We lost by 13 points.

You took up 10 minutes of game time on your first drive, where did the offense lose that consistency?

I wish I could tell you right now without going back and watching the film. We had a pretty good flow going. We wanted to be able run it out there. We broke some good runs but, I know if you get a TFL or you get a no gain and then you have an incompletion and now you are third and 10. It’s one thing to try to want to continue to get first downs but if you can’t even get in position to for it and get first downs, that’s tough, man. We ended up in that boat about three different times. That’s hard, but we will watch the film and we will clean this stuff up. We are going to have to. Tampa Bay is coming in and they are a good football team. We are going to have to be ready. They’re all good and it’s not going to get easier. These only get harder and harder as you go. They are more meaningful every game that we go. I go back to this, maybe we needed this. Maybe we needed to get kicked around a little bit, because that’s what happened.

You knew it was going to be tough and they were desperate for a win. Is that why you tried so much on offense and tried to hold the ball for so long?

You feel like the offense is going to need to carry more of this load. That’s the way I felt, knowing where we were going into this game defensively. With that, they have to be able to do more for us and we just weren’t able to put up points. That’s the bottom line.

Kirby looked hobbled when he came back into the game. Is that something you are worried about getting worse?

I think if he gets some significant time off, this thing will calm down. Unfortunately, we don’t have time. We tried to clam it down as much as we could and get him out here to where he is ready to play, he feels good enough to play and we gave him a go. I would like to say once we get to the bye, this thing will calm down. That’s what we believe. We won’t know until we do it, until it happens.

Did the offensive performance surprise you?

I don’t think it surprised me. We felt like we could do some things in the run game, and it would open up the pass game. The only thing that surprised me, I thought we would make more plays in some of these critical moments when we absolutely needed it, when the defense needed it. We just couldn’t quite get there. It was one of those, just kind of odd days. It just didn’t go our way, you know? It’s one thing here, one thing there. It’s one player here, one player there or the call. It’s everybody, man. We all have a hand in this. When you win, everybody is kind of doing their part and everybody is complementing each other and when you don’t, it’s one thing here and one thing there. We just can’t quite overcome it with one of the other units. That’s what happened.

Forgetting how the officials called it, do you have any second thoughts about the trick play at the one-yard line on fourth down?

No, we are trying to get in the end zone. It got in the end zone, I mean, I don’t know what else to do. I guess we could do something else to get in the end zone. No, I don’t second-guess it. Again, we had plenty of plays to make that we didn’t make. We didn’t do enough.

This article first appeared on Detroit Lions on SI and was syndicated with permission.

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