Getty Dan Campbell on the sidelines in 2022 against the Colts.
The Detroit Lions were blanked by the New England Patriots 29-0, but all anyone really wanted to know after the game is what Dan Campbell would have to say for himself.
Campbell struggled during the game with coaching fundamentals to the naked eye, and was 0-6 on fourth down. In spite of the failures, he continued to roll the dice and go on the money down instead of punting or kicking field goals.
On no play was the risk of that decision more evident than a key fourth and nine right before halftime. Instead of punting or settling for a long field goal, Campbell elected to go, and the play backfired in a big way. A strip-sack netted the Patriots a momentum shifting score.
After the game, Campbell was asked about the decision. Instead of second-guessing the call, he stuck to his guns and doubled down, saying the mistake was the biggest problem and not the call itself.
“We had a (missed assignment). Somebody’s supposed to be blocked on the edge, so we had a mental error there. So that’s why we lost the yardage. The play was a good call, a real good call. We had exactly what we wanted,” he told the media afterward.
In terms of the field goal, Campbell admitted the Lions may not have been comfortable to make the call in that situation with Michael Badgley.
“I had a yard marker we had to get inside of to feel good about it, to swing away. Otherwise, take your chances with the offense,” Campbell would say of the call.
As a whole, Campbell said that the team needed to gain more yards in order to shorten things up for better attempts across the board.
“It hurts because that’s part of third down right? If you don’t get it on third down, you better get it on fourth,” he said. “We weren’t good enough. That’s an area where we’ve been pretty good. When you’re not able to convert those, you’re going to struggle offensively. Too many of them we weren’t efficient enough on first down.”
Where Campbell would take the blame for his decision making a few weeks back, it’s clear he still likes the call. In terms of the execution, the coach thinks a lot was left to be desired.
Campbell Takes Blame for Team’s Preparation
While the coach may not have had a lot to say about the specific decision in question, it’s clear he understood the role he played in the team’s loss in the game in some facet.
As he said, the fact that the Lions looked sloppy and unprepared was on him as a head coach, and he will take full blame for that end of things.
“That’s 100% on me”
“Certainly we din’t play good football there. It was not good. It was the worst of the season overall as a team. That falls on me. You can’t play that way unless your head coach doesn’t have ’em ready, so that’s 100% on me,” Campbell would say.
Sloppiness aside, the Lions were in the game most of the day and could have had a better shot at winning had Campbell had better attention to detail in many ways in-game.
Campbell’s Fourth Down Call Felt Irresponsible
Why has all the heat been aimed toward the coach? Campbell elected to go on fourth down and long with the game very much in the balance. The call ended up playing a big role in a massive momentum swing in a close game.
Instead of a play being made by the offense, Jared Goff panicked and fumbled the ball. New England scored a defensive touchdown on the play, and the floodgates were officially open.
It’s not a stretch to say that this was the play of the game for both teams. After this point, momentum was a runaway train for the Patriots, and they would go on to rack up more big plays and points.
4th down. Dan Campbell cements his reputation as a hardo
Campbell should have tried a long field goal to get on the board, or he should have punted the ball. It was a low-percentage move to go on fourth down, especially with as far away as it was.
Still, Campbell seems to think that being aggressive was the right move, and seems likely to stick to his guns in terms of rolling the dice.
Obviously, he will have to hope for better execution on the field in the next few weeks.