Lions HC Dan Campbell Defends Controversial Call Against 49ers

Getty Detroit Lions head coach Dan Campbell sent a message to the team's doubters.

Detroit Lions head coach Dan Campbell is standing by his decision to go for it on 4th down late in the NFC Championship game rather than attempting a game-tying field goal, a decision that is coming under fire in the 34-31 loss.

The Lions lost to the San Francisco 49ers in the January 38 game, blowing a 17-point lead as the 49ers scored 27 unanswered points in the second half. Many are pointing fingers at Campbell’s aggressive play-calling, which worked often during the season but backfired in the NFC title game.

The Lions were trailing 27-24 in the fourth quarter when Campbell decided to keep the offense on the field rather than attempt a field goal. The Lions failed to gain a first down, turning it over to the 49ers who scored a touchdown on the next possession.

As SI.com’s Karl Rasmussen noted, it was the second time in the game that Campbell passed up on a potential field goal only to see his team turn it over on downs.

“Early into the third quarter, Campbell elected to go for it rather than pad the Lions’ lead, which was 24–10 at the time. The team failed to pick up the first down, opening the door for the 49ers to claw back into the game,” Rasmussen wrote.

After the game, Campbell addressed his decision to go for it.

Dan Campell Speaks Out

Speaking to reporters after the game, Campbell said he decided to keep the offense on the field in an attempt to take back momentum from the 49ers.

“I just felt really good about us converting and getting our momentum and not letting them play long ball,” Campbell said, adding that he wanted the Lions to control the ball. “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.”

Campbell added that he was proud of his team, which made the loss even more crushing.

“It’s hard when you lost that way,” Campbell said. “It’s hard. You feel like you get your heart ripped out. But I’m proud of that group and I’ll go anywhere with that group and you wish you could keep it all together, but that’s not the reality.”

Aggressive Call Under Fire

Fans and reporters had plenty of gripes with Campbell’s play calling, from the decision to go for it on 4th down to calling a run near the goal line with less than a minute remaining in the fourth quarter. The play was stopped short of the goal line, forcing the Lions to use their first of three time-outs and ensuring they would need to recover an onside kick.

The Lions scored a touchdown on the next play, cutting the lead to 34-31, but they failed to recover the onside kick and the 49ers ran out the clock to win and return to the Super Bowl.

“I mean, he won’t get fired, but a 12-year-old who plays Madden could have worked the clock better than Dan Campbell at the end of the game,” wrote NFL reporter Jay Skurski on X. “It blows my mind that these coaches who make millions of dollars could be this bad at this.”

But others defended Campbell, noting that his aggressive approach worked during the season as the Lions won their division for the first time in three decades.

“It seems bizarre to spend all year (and especially this past week) lauding Dan Campbell for believing in his philosophy and his team for three years, having had those fourth-down decisions pay off over and over again for Detroit, and now insist that he should be kicking,” reporter Bill Barnwell wrote on X.