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Following the Lions’ dramatic 34-31 last-second win over the Packers, head coach Dan Campbell stated his philosophy for his gutsy fourth-and-1 call:
“Let’s finish this.”
Detroit converted the fourth down despite a slip on the handoff from Jared Goff and kicked the winning field goal from 35 yards out. Kicking earlier from 38 yards out would have left Green Bay nearly 40 seconds and a timeout to work with.
The Dan Campbell Lions have consistently been one of the most aggressive teams in the league in terms of going for it on fourth down and trying to impose their will on opposing defenses — and it’s a philosophy that’s going to come in handy as the Lions try to win the Super Bowl with mounting injuries on defense. This isn’t the time for them to stray from the path of aggression. It’s going to continue to be a big weapon for them moving forward.
All things considered, the Lions’ defense performed admirably on Thursday night. They held Josh Jacobs to 66 yards on the ground (albeit, he scored three touchdowns as well) and were put into a tough situation on one drive after a failed fourth-down attempt left the Packers just outside the red zone. Packers quarterback Jordan Love still had an excellent game, but the Lions’ defense was down three defensive linemen before losing star defensive tackle Alim McNeill to a concussion. They were already coming into the game without Aidan Hutchinson, Alex Anzalone, Ennis Rakestraw Jr., Malcolm Rodriguez, John Cominsky and Marcus Davenport, all of whom are on injured reserve. Every NFL team is going to be banged up to a degree by Week 14, but Detroit’s defense truly has been decimated by injuries.
Luckily, the offense is more than good enough to still give them a chance to win the Super Bowl as they try to tape together a workable defense for the playoffs. Even on a night where they were missing stud left tackle Taylor Decker, they had more than enough juice to put up 34 points on the Packers. Their offensive line is…
Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/lions-fourth-down-call-wasnt-just-gutsy–its-how-they-have-to-live-now-184516566.html
Author : Yahoo Sports
Publish date : 2024-12-06 18:45:00
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