Dan Campbell's Detroit Lions Have Challenges Ahead, and That's a Good Thing

Red and gold confetti blanketed Levi's Stadium on Sunday night, and a trophy presentation stage was being set up just as the Detroit Lions gathered inside the road locker room in defeat. An enchanted season decades in the making that saw the Lions—yes, the Lions—turn into winners was over. A celebration Detroit envisioned was now San Francisco's to enjoy.

The Lions couldn't hold a 17-point halftime lead in a 34-31 road loss to the top-seeded 49ers in the NFC Championship Game. For Detroit, this was the type of game the franchise had been longing to play in, and it ended under the toughest of circumstances.

The failed fourth-down attempts, regardless of whether they were the right calls, will live on, as will a crucial fumble, a one-in-a-million deflected catch by the Niners, multiple dropped passes and an onside kick attempt that ever-so-briefly looked like it might bounce the Lions' way. It didn't.

So a 2023 campaign in which the Lions won their division for the first time in 30 years, advanced to their second-ever NFC title game and came painfully close to the organization's Super Bowl debut ended in a collapse with the disappointment Motor City fans have come to know.

And as coach Dan Campbell stood in front of his team postgame, he delivered a harsh truth.

"Look, I told those guys, 'This may have been our only shot,'" Campbell told reporters at his press conference. "Do I think that? No. Do I believe that? No. However, I know how hard it is to get here. I'm well aware. And it's gonna be twice as hard to get back to this point next year than it was this year. That's the reality. And if we don't have the same hunger and the same work...then we got no shot at getting back here."

Within three years, Campbell and general manager Brad Holmes transformed the Lions from perennial losers into a championship contender. But they recognize that their jobs just got that much harder.

It's now the expectation that Detroit will win, which is a welcomed change of pace. There are, though, a variety of challenges ahead that the franchise will have to face to duplicate 2023's newfound success in 2024 and get another attempt at the title game.

Things, simply put, will be different in Detroit next season.

The Lions may lose up-and-coming offensive coordinator Ben Johnson to a head coaching job elsewhere. Starting defensive back Chauncey Gardner-Johnson is among the team's 2024 free agents, while future contract decisions for Jared Goff, Amon-Ra St. Brown and other players loom. The NFC North could see a boost—the Green Bay Packers are coming off a playoff appearance including a road victory over Dallas, the Minnesota Vikings may have been there with some quarterback consistency, and the Chicago Bears control the offseason with their draft slots.

Plus, the Lions won't be sneaking up on teams anymore. They've shifted from underdogs to front-runners. And Campbell and company were clear it's going to take some significant buy-in to prevent a one-hit wonder.

"I think we have a lot of good players on this team, the right coaches, the right everything to be back here next year," St. Brown said at his locker after the game. "Obviously it's going to be tough—probably going to be tougher than it was this year. But we feel like we've got the guys and we're hungry. We're gonna be ready."

Added Campbell: "I don't care how much better we get or what we add or what we draft. It's irrelevant. It's gonna be tough [to get back]."

Detroit had its Super Bowl shot. It missed. But the Lions have come so far since Campbell was widely written off as a highly caffeinated, kneecap-biter rather than a franchise leader. He and Holmes have succeeded in turning around the perception of the organization. Detroit has won 20 of its last 27 regular-season games, plus two playoff contests, since starting the 2022 season of 1-6. Fans now pack Ford Field to cheer on the team, even for an away conference title game.

This run brings with it heightened expectations—from fans, from analysts, from, well, the Lions. That's a lot to live up to, though also something Detroit is ready to embrace.

And as Campbell and his squad watch the 49ers take on the Kansas City Chiefs in Super Bowl LVIII, they may not help but picture themselves hoisting the Lombardi Trophy about a year from now. Because they believe they have what it takes to do so, and the ability to overcome everything in their way to make that dream a reality.

"We definitely changed the narrative on this organization," Lions linebacker Alex Anzalone said. "It's disappointing...it's a heartbreaking loss. Super Bowl or bust—that was our mindset this year....That's been our standard all season and that's going to be our standard."