LOS ANGELES – Dan Campbell took a risk late in the Detroit Lions’ win over the Chargers, choosing to go for a 4th down instead of kicking a go-ahead field goal with under two minutes remaining.
But as anyone who watched the game knows, it would have been an even bigger risk to try the kick -- and that doesn’t have anything to do with placekicker Riley Patterson.
Patterson ultimately drilled a 41-yard field goal as time expired to give the Lions a 41-38 win over the Chargers. His kick certainly would have been good from 4 yards deeper, but distance wasn’t what worried Campbell.
The Lions had just gained 12 yards on a 3rd and 14 with 1:47 left on the clock in a tie game. They faced a 4th and 2 from the Chargers’ 26-yard line, which would have been well within Patterson’s range.
But I doubt any Lions fan wanted Campbell to send out the field goal unit because of how poorly the defense had played. Detroit allowed the Chargers to score touchdowns on each of their final five possessions -- drives of 75, 75, 92, 75, and 68 yards.
The Lions couldn’t stop Justin Herbert and Keenan Allen, and even if Patterson had made a 45-yard field goal, Herbert would have taken the field down by three points with more than a minute and a half on the clock.
It feels pretty safe to say the Chargers would have marched down the field and scored a touchdown. Or at least sent the game to overtime with a field goal. It’s what they did all game.
So Campbell risked the fourth-down attempt, and Jared Goff hit Sam LaPorta to move the chains. The Lions took three knees to run the clock, and Patterson sent them back to Detroit with a victory.
“I wanted to finish with the ball,” Campbell said. “I trusted our guys. I trust Goff. Going into that situation, there’s going to be a lot of time left (if) you kick the field goal, so I wanted to finish with the ball in our hands. I liked where we were at offensively. We were playing good. Goff was in a good spot, and I just felt like that was the right thing to do.”
He turned out to be right, but even if the Lions had failed on fourth down, most fans would have defended the decision.
Campbell’s players certainly appreciated his confidence.
“I gave Campbell a high-five coming off the side,” wide receiver Amon-Ra St. Brown said. “I mean, I don’t know how many coaches are going to go for it in that situation, so hat’s off to him.”
Goff said after the game that he assumed Campbell would go for the fourth down, and he was glad the Lions had a chance to finish the game on their own terms.
Campbell hasn’t had to gamble very often this season because each of the previous six Lions games were blowouts (five wins and one loss). But he made some difficult decisions Sunday in a close game, and it helped the Lions improve to 7-2.
