Dan Campbell takes blame in Lions' loss to Buccaneers

Detroit Lions head coach Dan Campbell has always been a straight shooter and isn't one to shy away from admitting fault.

Speaking with reporters after his team's 20-16 home loss against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers (2-0), the fourth-year Lions coach took the blame for the outcome, specifically on a botched opportunity to put up three points before the end of the first half.

There were 18 seconds left on the clock in the second quarter with the Lions in possession of the football on Tampa Bay's 17-yard line.

Related: Detroit's comeback falls short in 20-16 loss to Tampa Bay

Detroit was facing a 2nd-and-10 when quarterback Jared Goff completed an eight-yard pass to wide receiver Amon-Ra St. Brown to the nine-yard line when the team rushed to spike the ball. However, the field goal unit had started to run onto the field at the same time and the Lions were flagged for too many men on the field.

Detroit didn't have a timeout remaining which resulted in a 10-second runoff, ending the first half.

"I asked for improvement from last week. That was the story. And we did improve," Campbell said. "And the coach cost them. Their head coach cost them. Critical error at the end of the half, 100% on me."

If the Lions hit a chip shot field goal instead of what happened, Tampa Bay's lead is trimmed from seven to four at 13-9. It likely changes the directory of the game beyond that as Detroit found themselves needing a touchdown late instead of a field goal.

Related: Buccaneers lead Lions 13-6 at halftime as offense struggles

"There was no way to justify this. It's a massive error on my part and no one else's. It was just between hurry-up field goal and clocking it and it was 100% my fault," Campbell said.

Many players, such as Goff, D.J. Reader and Aidan Hutchinson told reporters they respect and admire their head coach's accountability.

"I know he did take accountability for that, but we had plenty of opportunities to overcome that and make the plays to win the game and I know he's going to be hard on himself," Goff said. "As players, we got to be better, I got to be better. I have got to pick him up, I have got to pick up other guys, the other guys got to pick up me, that's how we win."

Goff struggled against the Buccaneers as well, completing 34-for-55 passes for 307 yards and two interceptions. He posted a 61.8 quarterback rating.

It wasn't as much a struggle moving the football for the Lions but more so freezing up when reaching the red zone. Detroit out-gained Tampa Bay in total yards (463 to 216) and first downs (26 to 14) but was only 1-for-7 in the red zone.

The quarterback took responsibility for his performance and his head coach hasn't lost a drop of confidence in the signal-caller.

"He'll rebound. Has he played better? Yeah, he's played better. But I just know him, and he never stays down. He's going to be in immediately. He's going to look at it tonight. He's going to come in tomorrow and take ownership and he's just going to be better," Campbell said. "That's the way he's wired and it's what makes him who he is."

The Lions will next take on the Arizona Cardinals (1-1) on the road Sunday for a Week 3 matchup.