When it comes to taking risks in the NFL, Dan Campbell would be at the top of anyone’s list. Although his decisions can be questionable at times, Campbell has mostly proven himself right. And one of those instances came in Detroit’s last game against the Green Bay. Campbell’s decision to opt for a fourth down with seconds left in the clock helped the Lions get away with a 34-31 victory.
However, CBS reporter Pete Prisco feels Campbell is taking unnecessary risks: “No need to be reckless anymore, Dan Campbell. You are too good a coach with too good of a team.” Well, Prisco wasn’t wrong in his stance on Campbell gambling in the final quarter. He said that the Lions could have been reckless if they weren’t playing well. But look at them now. The Lions are neck-deep into the playoffs and are only playing for the No.1 seed in the NFC.
As for Prisco, he isn’t buying Campbell’s 4th down decisions. The NFL insider sent warning signals to Campbell by pointing out last year’s NFC Championship game against the Niners. “What happened to the Championship game last year? You were a little reckless going for 4th downs. It cost you a chance to go to the Super Bowl.” Well, the Lions head coach himself admitted his mistakes last year. But before we go into his comments, let’s take a recap of what went wrong.
Is Dan Campbell’s aggressive play-calling style a strength or a liability for the Detroit Lions?
Liability, it’s too risky
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Is Dan Campbell a genius for his risky calls, or is he just plain reckless?
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With only a few minutes remaining on the clock, the Lions had a 3rd and goal from the 49ers 1-yard line. At that moment, Campbell decided to run the play through running back David Montgomery. However, the Lions’ RB ended up losing 2 yards while Detroit had no timeouts left. Although Goff did manage to find Jameson Williams for a three-yard TD to make it 34-31, it still wasn’t enough. The 49ers burned the clock for the final 56 seconds, thereby leaving Campbell devasted.
“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.” But against the Green Bay was Campbell, the one that really went for 4th down?
Jared Goff breaks silence on changing Dan Campbell’s plans against the Packers
Anyone who watched the Lions’ NFC Championship game last season was almost having Deja vu watching their team go for 4th and inches last week. Well, the Lions decided to run a similar play involving RB David Montgomery. However, it worked out as the Lions went on to score a 31-yard field goal to win 34-31. See, even the scores were similar. But was it really Dan Campbell who took the risk this time? Former NFL CB Richard Sherman doesn’t think so.
Hopping on his podcast, Sherman said, “Jared basically comes over, and Dan’s on the headset telling him. Hey’s we’re kicking it and Jared, you know dejected, is like Man. I wanted to go. And Dan Campbell just looks at him and said, You want to do it, eff it we’re going for it. And then he changes his mind and goes for it.” While fans were thinking it was Goff who was calling shots behind Campbell’s shadows, he refuted the claim.
This Tuesday, on 97.1 The Ticket, Goff cleared the air, saying, “I didn’t do any convincing with him. He does that all on his own and we’re fired up when he does it. It had nothing to do with me. I walked over there, asked him what the plan was. He was deliberating it and told us we were gonna go for it.” But it remains to be seen whether Dan Campbell goes with his Madden Football-like tactics against the Bills on Sunday. If he does and pulls off a victory, then he will surely go down as the most aggressive coach in the NFL.
