Dan Campbell and the Detroit Lions had a golden opportunity on Sunday when they took on the New England Patriots, who were rolling with their third-string QB, Bailey Zappe.
Unfortunately, that golden opportunity went away quickly as the Patriots rolled to a 29-0 victory over the Lions, who had been the highest-scoring team in football.
What did Dan Campbell say about not regretting his decisions?
During the game, the Lions were an NFL record 0-for-6 on fourth-down opportunities, despite Campbell saying he wanted to be more conservative and patient.
On Monday, Dan Campbell spoke to reporters and he said he does not regret the decisions he made on Sunday.
“No, I don’t. I don’t. Just with where it went, look, I wanted to be patient in that game, but I also know this,” Campbell said Monday afternoon. “Shoot man, the first fourth-and-1, that was less than half a yard, and we’re running behind (Penei) Sewell, and it was Logan (Stenberg), and I just — and we’re giving it to Jamaal (Williams), I didn’t — I didn’t second guess that one bit, I would take that every day of the week, and we got stuffed on it. And then, just knowing where we’re at on the other fourth downs where it was playing out. I feel like that’s what we needed to do.”
Via Benjamin Raven – MLive
Dan Campbell admits he is aggressive by nature
Dan Campbell added that though he admits he is aggressive by nature, that is not why he elected to go for it on fourth down so often.
“No, I think that a lot of it is probably where I feel like the strength of our team is,” Campbell said. “Yes, I’m a little more aggressive by nature, but I also – those fourth-and-1s, I trust our offensive line and Jamaal, not that you’re always going to run it or hand it to him, it’s hard not to. It’s hard not to run behind (Penei) Sewell and (Frank) Ragnow and Jonah (Jackson) and Deck, and — but even some of those — man, just like yesterday, we had the fourth-and-8. There’s a line that, ‘OK, we are very comfortable with field goal. We are not comfortable with field goal.’ And now you have a decision. Do you just — do you go for it, or do you take a couple of delay penalties and then kick on up in the air, punt one up in the air, and so — and then once we got late in that game, I mean it’s — I thought those were all very manageable, the fourth-and-2s, the fourth-and-4s, the fourth-and-5s, or you know, fourth-and-goal at the 5(-yard line).
Instead, Dan Campbell said the reason why he decided to go for it on fourth down is that he trusts his offense and feels like the plays they have for those situations are plays he loves.
“I felt like — because I love what (Lions offensive coordinator) Ben (Johnson) had in, I love the plays that we had. I like the design. I knew who we were throwing them to, and it didn’t work out, so, that’s kind of where that game ended up going.”
Nation, do you like that Campbell is so aggressive with his play-calling, or would you rather the Lions punt the ball and pin the other team’s offense back in some of those situations?
Personally, I love an aggressive head coach. That being said, there is aggressive and then there is what Campbell has been so far this season with the Lions. At some point, he is going to have to tone it down a bit or it will continue to cost the Lions much-needed victories.
