Head coach Dan Campbell of the Detroit Lions stood by his decision to go for two fourth-down conversions in the second half of the NFC championship game. But he sounded less certainty about another decision he made in the fourth quarter of the matchup.
While trailing by 10 with 1:05 remaining in regulation, the Lions faced third-and-goal at the San Francisco 49ers 1-yard line. Detroit still had all three timeouts.
But to have the best chance of getting the ball back, the Lions needed to score without using a timeout.
On third-and-goal, though, the 49ers stopped running back David Montgomery for a 2-yard loss. The Lions scored a touchdown on the next play, but not reaching the end zone with a run on third-and-goal forced Detroit to call a timeout to save the clock.
Campbell second guessed his decision to call a run on third-and-goal to reporters the day after the game.
“The easy thing to do is to throw it. Probably should’ve been the right thing,” Campbell told the media. “But for me, I wanted to run it. I thought we would just pop it. We had just two-minute [drilled] all the way down the field, throwing the football, and they were in a four-down front, and I believed we’d walk right in.
“We just missed a block, so then yeah, I’ve got to use a timeout.
“So, hindsight, throw it four times, but I believed in that moment it was going to be a walk-and-run. And it didn’t work out. So, I gambled and lost.”
NFC Championship Ended With Failed Lions Onside Kick
With only 2 timeouts remaining and 56 seconds on the clock, the Lions had very little chance to get the ball back.
So, the Lions attempted an onside kick. However, during the 2023 regular season, there was only a 4.8% success rate with onside kicks.
With so little time, the Lions may have attempted an onside kick even if they had all 3 timeouts. But if Detroit’s defense stopped San Francisco from getting a first down, all 3 timeouts would have ensured the Lions received another possession even without an onside recovery.
Having only 2 timeouts, though, the game essentially ended when 49ers tight end George Kittle recovered the onside attempt.
San Francisco called 3 runs to bleed the clock to under 5 seconds (after Detroit used its 2 remaining timeouts). The 49ers then took a knee after the clock expired on fourth-and-long.
Lions’ Dan Campbell Defends Fourth-Down Attempts
Although not scoring on third-and-goal was a crucial mistake for the Lions, many pundits argued the game had already been lost.
Campbell elected to go for 2 fourth-and-short (3 yards or fewer) conversions instead of kicking field goals ranging from 46-48 yards during the second half. The Lions failed to convert both times.
As Campbell implied, hindsight is always 20/20. The “safer bet” would have been to attempt field goals. But Lions kicker Michael Badgley was 17-for-29 on outdoor field goals over 40 yards since 2019 heading into the NFC championship.
That’s not exactly a safe bet.
By percentages, it was actually safer to keep the offense on the field. Including the postseason, the Lions converted 17 of 22 fourth downs with 3 or fewer yards to go.
“I just felt really good about us converting and getting our momentum and not letting them play long ball,” Campbell told reporters in his postgame press conference. “They were bleeding the clock out, that’s what they do, and I wanted to get the upper hand back.
“It’s easy hindsight, and I get that, but I don’t regret those decisions.”
It does, though, sound like Campbell wishes the team had called a pass instead of a run on their final third-down attempt of the season.
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Lions’ Dan Campbell Makes Admission From NFC Championship: ‘Gambled and Lost’