When Dan Campbell sent his Detroit Lions offense out to pick up a 4th-and-1 and drain the clock down to almost nothing instead of kicking a field goal and giving the Green Bay Packers the ball back last Thursday, it was easy to assume that he didn't agonize over the decision. Campbell is the most aggressive coach in the NFL and he has the highest tolerance of risk—specifically when it comes to fourth down decisions.
As has happened more often than not in these situations, things worked out for Campbell and the Lions as David Montgomery plunged through the line to set up a game-winning Jake Bates field goal in Detroit's 11th consecutive win. But it almost didn't happen. Somewhat surprisingly, it sounds like Campbell was initially leaning toward taking the three points and risking late fourth quarter Jordan Love before he was talking into remaining true to himself by quarterback Jared Goff.
Richard Sherman, who worked the Thursday Night Football game for Amazon, recounted his postgame conversation with Goff, who was asked what the sideline meeting with Campbell before the pivotal play was like.
"Jared basically comes over and Dan's on the headset telling him, 'Hey we're kicking it' and Jared, you know, dejected, is like 'Man, I wanted to go.' And Dan Campbell just looks at him and said, 'You want to do it, eff it we're going for it.' And then he changes his mind and goes for it."
Jared Goff asked to go for it on the gutsy 4th down 😳 (via @RShermanPodcast) pic.twitter.com/2LlG1CeXiE
— NFL (@NFL) December 10, 2024
Everything seems to be working for the Lions. The one time Campbell thought about not being Campbell he was talked back into it by his quarterback. It'll be interesting to see if he ever makes another conservative decision again, because the players seem to have bought all the way in.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as Jared Goff Convinced Dan Campbell to Go for Bold Fourth Down vs. Packers.
