Dan Campbell Gets Brutally Honest After Heartbreaking Loss

Dan Campbell didn't mince words after the Detroit Lions lost in shocking fashion to the San Francisco 49ers.

The Lions blew a 17-point halftime lead to Brock Purdy and the 49ers in the NFC Championship to lose 34-31.

An appearance in the Super Bowl felt so close that I could taste it on my tongue, but what football gives you, it can take away. The Lions had a horrible second half thanks to multiple dropped passes and Campbell refusing to take his foot off the gas.

Detroit fans felt like they'd been punched in the gut when the clock hit zero, and it sounds like it was every bit as bad in the locker room.

Dan Campbell offers sobering thoughts after Lions lose to the 49ers.

What did Dan Campbell do after the loss? Did he run and hide? Were there excuses flying? Not at all. He looked the media right in the eye and admitted this might have been Detroit's only shot at a Super Bowl.

"Sometimes, you can only say so much. You have to live it, unfortunately. You got to get your heart ripped out, which we did. It's a lesson learned. Look, I told those guys, 'This may have been our only shot.' Do I think that? No. Do I believe that? No. However, I know how hard it is to get here. I am well-aware. It'll be twice as hard to get back to this point next year as it was this year. That's the reality," Campbell told the media after the heartbreaking loss to the 49ers.

The Lions coach quickly added that if the team doesn't come next year with the same intensity and passion as it had this year, then it has no shot at all of ever returning to the NFC Championship game.

You can watch his full comments below, and let me know your thoughts at David.Hookstead@outkick.com.

Campbell keeps it real after brutal loss.

Say whatever you want about Dan Campbell, but you definitely can't say that he's not an honest man. He doesn't shy away from the truth.

The reality of the situation is the Lions were dismantled and rocked in the second half against the 49ers. It looked like the Super Bowl was a guarantee after the first half.

Hell, I was flying high and dreaming of late nights in Las Vegas. The 49ers had very different plans.

The highest of highs and the lowest of lows. That's what Sunday was during the Lions/49ers game. Lions fans had never been so close to the Super Bowl.

Then it was ripped away in gut-wrenching fashion. Instead of getting up to the podium and offering coach speak, Campbell walked up there and kept it real.

I respect the hell out of that, and I also hope he's 100% incorrect.

Dan Campbell kept it real after the Lions lost to the 49ers. (Photo by Thearon W. Henderson/Getty Images)

Where will the Lions go from here? Will the franchise continue to rise or was Sunday night its peak? We'll find out, but Dan Campbell is definitely the man for the job. Let me know what you think about the Lions moving forward at David.Hookstead@outkick.com.