Lions HC Dan Campbell discusses team's collapse vs. 49ers

Dan Campbell’s Detroit Lions blew a 17-point halftime lead and lost 34-31 to the San Francisco 49ers in the NFC Championship game at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, Calif. on Sunday. The 17-point collapse is one of the largest blown leads ever in a conference championship game.

Campbell made a terrible decision in the third quarter that hurt his team and gave the 49ers momentum. San Francisco seized the moment and capitalized. They went from down 17 to taking a 10-point lead.

In his postgame news conference, Campbell summed up the feeling of blowing the lead with two words: “It stings.”

Campbell said “it stings” twice to hammer home the point.

“We had an opportunity and we just couldn’t close it out. It does. It stings. It stings,” Campbell said.

The Lions were in the midst of their best season since 1991. They had won their division and reached the conference championship game for the first time since 1991. Campbell has turned the team around and the Lions surpassed almost everyone’s expectations. But the team still had a 17-point lead at halftime of the conference championship game and a real opportunity to make the Super Bowl. And they blew it.

Yes, that absolutely stings.