Detroit Lions head coach Dan Campbell said the team’s loss to the Buffalo Bills was a necessary evil.
“What happens is, you win 11 in a row, and you lose, and then the sky falls,” said Campbell. “And I hate to say it, but we’re not going to be able to win 11 in a row again for the rest of this season. We’re just not going to be able to do it.”
Late-season collapses are a common occurrence for NFL teams on hot streaks. Last year, the Philadelphia Eagles shot out to a 10–1 start to the season. But after a 42–19 blowout loss to the San Francisco 49ers in Week 13, the Eagles collapsed, losing three games in a row and five of their last six games to finish the season 11–6. The Eagles were knocked out of the playoffs after a 32–9 loss to the upstart Tampa Bay Buccaneers in the Wild Card round.
Campbell used an analogy to describe how the team will recalibrate after the loss.
“You get used to eating filet—and I’m talking to all of us—and well, everything’s good, life’s good, but you forgot what it was like when you had nothing and you ate your [expletive] molded bread, and it was just fine, and it gave you everything you needed,” the coach said.
“And sometimes you’ve got to get punched in the mouth and remember what it used to be like, to really appreciate where you are. And we'll do that. And so, we’ve got a bad taste in our mouth, we got kicked around the other day, we lost a few guys. And you know what? It’s exactly what we needed. This is exactly what we needed. So we’re going to bounce back, we’re going to respond. We’ve got guys that are about to have an unbelievable opportunity here.”
The Lions lost to the Bills in a 48–42 shootout Sunday afternoon. Buffalo leapt out to a 14–0 lead in the first quarter. The Lions responded, but by halftime, the Bills led 21–14.
Early in the fourth quarter, Buffalo’s lead expanded to 45–28. Detroit responded and made it a six-point game with 12 seconds left to play, but the Lions lost an onside kick and Buffalo took a knee to end the game.
The Bills have been the NFL’s giant-slayers. Besides killing the Lions’ win streak, they handed the AFC-leading Kansas City Chiefs their only loss so far this year with a 30–21 victory in Week 11.
Moving forward, Campbell said he is no longer focused on flashy statistics as long as his team comes away with a win.
“We will play the game any way needed to win,” he said. “We’ve still got a good offense, we’ve got plenty of defensive players, I can go rattle them off right now. We’re going to put the best 11 on the field, we’re going to freaking cut it loose, we’re going to play with our special teams, and I don’t give a crap if we got to win by one point for the rest of the year, that’s what we’re going to do, and I’m going to be happy about it.”
He continued: “[If] we come out of the game with 50 yards of total offense and we win by one, you’re going to see smiles on my face, I promise you, all right? If it’s the other way, defensively, we give up 700 yards and we win by one point, you’re going to see a [expletive] smile from my—ear to ear, all right? I can promise you. So we’re going to find a way and we’re going to get it done.”
The Lions have locked up a playoff berth and remain in first place in both the NFC North and the Conference, though another loss would put them at risk of losing both, since the Eagles and Minnesota Vikings also sit at 12–2. A loss and a Vikings win would flip the conference standings and move Detroit from 1st to 5th place, and from the first round-bye to a Wild Card seed. The Lions play the Vikings in Week 18.
