Dan Campbell Promised To Be Aggressive, And He Kept That Promise Even As It Sunk Lions' Season
The Detroit Lions took a 24-7 lead into halftime of the NFC Championship game against the San Francisco 49ers. Just prior to the break, Lions head coach Dan Campbell elected to kick a field goal rather than go for a touchdown on the final play of the half.
It seemed like fans might get a different Dan Campbell in this one. The man who consistently went for fourth down conversions and seemingly always went the aggressive route decided to conservatively kick the field goal. It was the correct call, by the way.
But, that was the last time Campbell elected to play it safe. After San Francisco kicked a field goal on their first possession of the second half, Detroit drove back into 49ers territory.
On a fourth-and-2 from the San Francisco 28, Campbell kept his offense on the field rather than try a 45-yard field goal. Jared Goff found an open Josh Reynolds, but he dropped the football.
The 49ers ultimately stormed back and took a 27-24 lead. But, the Lions didn't lay down and die. Instead, they drove back into 49ers territory and faced a similar conundrum.
Trailing by three points with just under seven minutes left in the NFC Championship, the Lions faced a fourth-and-3 from the San Francisco 30-yard line. Again, rather than kick a potential game-tying field goal, Campbell sent his offense onto the field.
The 49ers ran a beautifully-disguised zone defense that confused Jared Goff and forced an incomplete pass.
Fourth-down decisions didn't work out, but Dan Campbell made a more questionable decision for Lions at the end of the NFC Championship
San Francisco took over following the failed conversion and scored a touchdown to take a 10-point lead. The Lions quickly drove down the field once again, this time getting inside the 49ers 5-yard line.
With all three timeouts left and needing two scores, Campbell curiously elected to run the ball on third-down-and-goal. The 49ers stopped David Montgomery, forcing the Lions to burn a precious timeout.
They scored on the next play, but without all three timeouts, the game ended following a failed onside kick.

Head coach Dan Campbell of the Detroit Lions reacts during the third quarter against the San Francisco 49ers in the NFC Championship Game at Levi's Stadium. (Photo by Ezra Shaw/Getty Images)
I usually side with going for short fourth-down conversions, but there comes a point in certain games where it doesn't make as much sense.
As someone who bet on the 49ers, I was happy the Lions went for the fourth down rather than kick the field goal to re-take the 17-point lead in the third quarter. I was also happy when they elected not to take the game-tying field goal attempt.
Generally, coaches want to do the opposite of what the other team hopes they do. I genuinely believe San Francisco was happy that the Lions gave them opportunities to get their defense off the field without giving up points.
Still, the decision to go for those fourth downs didn't (necessarily) cost the Lions the game.
Josh Reynolds dropping two perfect passes (one on that fourth down and a huge drop on a key third down), along with Jahmyr Gibbs fumbling in his own end and defensive back Kindle Vildor letting a ball bounce off his helmet into the hands of Brandon Aiyuk played a bigger role.
Campbell defends decisions to go for it on fourth down rather than kick field goals
The decision to run the ball on third-and-goal was completely indefensible and really poor coaching. Campbell might not regret the fourth down decisions (though he might later) but he'll definitely regret that run call.
"It's easy hindsight and I get that," Campbell said after the game about the fourth-down attempts. "But I don't regret it ... I understand the scrutiny I'll get and that's part of the gig ... it just didn't work out."
The Detroit Lions won their division for the first time in over 30 years and won two playoff games in the same season for the first time since 1957.
Interestingly, in that season, they beat the San Francisco 49ers to advance to the championship game. Why is that interesting? The 49ers blew a 24-7 halftime lead against Detroit. Sound familiar?
Talk about playing the long game. San Francisco waited over 65 years to exact their revenge at the perfect moment.
Unfortunately for Dan Campbell, he was on the losing end this go around.