It seems Dan Campbell isn’t always a football madman. Sometimes, he likes to play the conservative percentages to the detriment of his team.
Campbell’s Detroit Lions were giving the Kansas City Chiefs all they could handle on Thursday night. And late in the third quarter, we had this NFL opening matchup all knotted up at 14-14, with the Lions sitting happily in Chiefs’ territory on a fourth and short.
Did Detroit elect to use its dominant offensive line to try and continue the possession? Did the Lions take a chance to step on the Chiefs’ throat when they could?
No, no, they did not. Campbell decided to punt and give the Chiefs the ball back. Kansas City would later tack on a field goal to make it 17-14, frankly sparing Campbell from making his decision look even worse. Why? His punt from that position, in that situation, is literally one of the most cowardly NFL punts — according to the Surrender Index — in roughly a quarter-century.
DET decided to punt to KC from the KC 40 on 4th & 3 with 5:56 remaining in the 3rd while tied 14 to 14.
With a Surrender Index of 29.83, this punt ranks at the 100th percentile of cowardly punts of the 2023 season, and the 98th percentile of all punts since 1999.
— Surrender Index (@surrender_index) September 8, 2023
The eye test matches up. You don’t beat the Chiefs by punting when you have the potential leg up. You punch them in the mouth when you can. You don’t bring a knife to a Mahomes (gun) fight. It’s a wonder it didn’t immediately go worse for Detroit.
This was how Twitter reacted to Campbell's decision
Lions punt from 4th-and-3 at KC 40.
WP Go: 47.7%
WP Punt: 44.7%Big error by Dan Campbell.
— Seth Walder (@SethWalder) September 8, 2023
Dan Campbell with a fake punt deep in his territory and then a punt on 4th and 3 at the KC 40?
— Ed Feng (@thepowerrank) September 8, 2023
DAN CAMPBELL: WE'RE GONNA BITE YOUR KNEECAPS OFF, MURDER YOU IN THE OCEAN, AND SPIT IN YOUR MOM'S CAESAR SALAD!
ALSO DAN CAMPBELL: 4th and 3 on our opponents' 40? Let's punt.
— Korked Bats (@korkedbats) September 8, 2023
Can not punt on 4th & 3 from the 40 against the Chiefs! Gotta play to win! Can’t play scared to lose. Never thought Dan Campbell would play scared pic.twitter.com/hci9eFWT8Q
— Andrew McDevitt (@AMcDevittTV) September 8, 2023
So you fake punt at your own 20, yet you punt on the opposing 40?
Come on, Dan Campbell. #Lions
— Ben Parkins (@parkins_ben) September 8, 2023
So Dan Campbell will fake punt on his on 20 but won’t go for it on 4th on the Chiefs 40. Got it.
— FF BirdGang (@FFBirdGang) September 8, 2023
Dan Campbell should be fired before the third commercial for that punt
— Stuckey (@Stuckey2) September 8, 2023
Lions bettors watching Dan Campbell punt on 4th and 3 at the Chiefs' 40 yard line pic.twitter.com/qlbiRFjhpF
— PFN Betting (@PFNBetting) September 8, 2023
Why would Dan Campbell call that fake earlier just to punt now?
— Robin Lundberg (@robinlundberg) September 8, 2023
