Detroit Lions coach Dan Campbell admitted Sunday night that after their 16-9 loss to the Philadelphia Eagles, a more conservative approach on fourth down would’ve resulted in a better chance to pull off the road upset.
“If you go totally conservative in the way this game played out and the way it was, you got a better chance of winning that game than some of those decisions I made,” Campbell said. “I understand that, but also that’s who we are. It’s who I am, and it bit us today.”
The Lions opted to go for it on fourth down five times against the Eagles, and all five times they failed to convert. In some cases, the Lions passed up an opportunity to kick a field goal. In others, they ended up ceding good field position when a punt could’ve pinned a struggling Eagles offense deep.
Here’s a look at each of the five instances:
- Fourth-and-1 from own 48-yard line (0-yard run)
- Fourth-and-2 from own 43-yard line (failed fake punt)
- Fourth-and-5 from Eagles’ 32-yard line (incomplete pass)
- Fourth-and-goal from Eagles’ 3-yard line (incomplete pass)
- Fourth-and-3 from Eagles’ 45-yard line (incomplete pass)
That’s passing up two field goal attempts—although a 50-yard field goal was not a gimme on a windy night—and a few opportunities to pin Philadelphia deep.
Still, Campbell didn’t sound like he regretted the decisions much. Prior to Sunday night’s game, the Lions had converted 13-of-18 fourth-down attempts, a 72.2% conversion rate that would rank top-five in the league today. But with their 0-for-5 output on Sunday, they now sit 15th at 56.5%.
“We were just a little off,” Campbell said. “I mean, it really was kind of one of those days. I hate saying that, but it was just a little bit of one of those days, and I mean it’s a rarity that (Jared) Goff and (Amon-Ra) St. Brown don’t connect more than that. That’s just a rare thing because those guys have such a good connection.
“But again, man, we’re all involved in this. We all have a hand in it. For me, the coaches, all of us, man, everybody that’s part of this offense, we have to be better. Especially on a day like today when you’re playing that kind of defense, that kind of team, the margin for error is so small, man.”
Lions players still support the approach, too, and they know if they just convert one or two of those fourth downs, it’s an entirely different ball game.
“That’s just kind of who we are, and when it doesn’t work, it’s going to get questioned by you guys, and when it works, it’s going to get praised by you guys, and it didn’t work today,” quarterback Jared Goff said. “I understand the question, but part of me says once you commit to it, you have to keep doing it. At some point, you’re going to convert them. Tonight wasn’t our night on fourth down, and it sucks. You’d like to think, how many do we have six, seven, six? Yeah, I’d like to think you get three of those or two of those. It’s a whole different ball game, but again, not good enough.”
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