Dan Campbell made a terrible coaching decision during the NFC Championship game between his Detroit Lions and the San Francisco 49ers at Levi’s Stadium on Sunday that cost his team badly.
The Lions roared out to a 24-7 lead in the first half, taking advantage of a 49ers missed field goal and interception.
A few seconds before halftime, Detroit had the ball at the 49ers’ 3-yard line, but Campbell wisely decided to kick a short field goal that increased his team’s lead to 17 points rather than go for a touchdown on fourth-and-goal.
Campbell made a different decision in the third quarter.
San Francisco had kicked a field goal on their opening possession of the second half to make it 24-10. Detroit got the ball back and drove into Niners territory midway through the third quarter. They faced a fourth-and-2 at the San Francisco 28. Rather than attempt a 45-yard field goal to try to push his team’s lead back to 17 points, Campbell opted to go for it.
Jared Goff was pressured and threw a pass to Josh Reynolds, who dropped a ball that would have given the team a first down.
The incompletion gave the ball to the Niners, who quickly connected with two passes to get them inside the 5, including one on a ball that bounced off Kindle Vildor’s helmet.
The 49ers scored a few plays later to make it 24-17. The Lions lost a fumble by Jahmyr Gibbs on their next offensive play, giving the ball to San Francisco in Detroit territory. The Niners quickly scored again to tie the game.
The 49ers ended up adding another field goal and touchdown to win, 34-31.
Some people have defended Campbell’s call by noting he has been aggressive all season and stuck to what had worked for the team. That doesn’t explain why he went conservative before halftime and took the points to increase the team’s lead to 17 points.
Why was going up by 17 before the half good enough for Campbell at the time but not good enough in the third quarter?
Yes, the distances of the two field goals were much different – but attempting the field goal in that third-quarter situation was the correct move. Had the Lions made it, their lead would have remained 17 points and they would have maintained serious distance between them and the Niners with 22 minutes remaining. Instead, they went for it and put the game in the balance when they didn’t need to. The failed conversion gave San Francisco all the life they needed to come back. It swung the momentum and completely ignited San Francisco. There was no need for Detroit to open the door to that possibility at that moment in the game.
The Lions ended up blowing a 17-point halftime lead and the team’s long-suffering fans have reason to be sore over a decision that let the Niners back into the game.
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