The Detroit Lions are currently looking for ways to improve after a tough 2025 season that saw them miss the playoffs altogether after securing the top seed in the NFC the year before. Head coach Dan Campbell raised eyebrows with his decision to take over the playcalling duties midway through the year, a move that did not always pay dividends for the Lions.
Now, Campbell is taking ownership of some of the Lions' shortcomings in the 2025 season, during a recent media availability at the ongoing NFL Combine.
“Last year, that was frustrating, and it's nobody's fault but our own, and that starts with me. It's one thing to have lip service about not being complacent or entitled, and you say it, but then you turn around and go, ‘You know what, did we really live that? Did I really live that?'” said Campbell, per SiriusXM NFL Radio on X, formerly Twitter.
“It doesn't mean anything happened on purpose. It's just, sometimes, competition is good for everybody, and bringing in guys that make other guys feel uncomfortable is good for everybody,” he added.
Indeed, the Lions did seem to be a bit too big for their britches at times during the 2025 season, despite having one just two playoff games in their current era of success, having been sent home by the Washington Commanders in the divisional round of the 2024-25 postseason.
However, perhaps the disappointment of this past season will serve as the motivation that Detroit needs in order to get back on the trajectory they seemed to be headed on when they first burst onto the scene during the 2023 season, making it all the way to the NFC Championship Game that year, and very nearly further than that.
In any case, the Lions' 2026 season is slated to get underway in September, with the official schedule to be announced at a later date.
