Dan Campbell Confirms Play-Calling Change Against Commanders

The Detroit Lions made a play-calling change ahead of their matchup with the Washington Commanders, and the results paid off.

With head coach Dan Campbell calling the plays, the Lions scored on each of their first eight possessions including five touchdowns en route to an emphatic 44-22 win over the Washington Commanders.

The Lions' fifth-year head coach confirmed that he was calling the plays during his postgame press conference. He took over for John Morton, the team's first-year offensive coordinator who had called plays for the previous eight games.

Campbell noted that the play-calling effort remained a collaborative one with Morton and the rest of the offensive coaching staff. Despite not calling the plays directly, Morton played a role in suggesting different things based on situations.

"Yeah, it was just, 'Let's try something a little different.' I know what I want to do, I know how I want to do it," Campbell said. "Now that being said, this is a collaborative effort now. I was taking input from John Morton that whole time, and the other coaches. 'Man, what do you think here, third-down.' This is all-encompassing. We all work together, coaches did a helluva job. But I just wanted to change it up a little bit. Let's just see if a different play-caller can get us a little momentum, that's all, and it's nothing more than that. I know you're probably gonna want to ask questions about, 'What about this?' It's not that. This is a change, and the change was good for today."

Lions quarterback Jared Goff praised the job that Campbell did calling the plays and said that he knew the change was coming earlier in the week.

"I thought he did a great job. I really did," Goff said. "It's hard, certainly, it's his first time doing it since that first year. It's been a long time since he's done it. He did a great job getting plays in on time, getting personnels in, switching up the tempos. He was great."

Campbell had indicated that he made the switch as a way to change things up, according to FOX sideline reporter Megan Olivi.

"(Campbell) told me they just wanted to mix things up," Olivi said as the third-quarter started. "Everyone is still involved, the personnel and the players, they just wanted to find a bit of a rhythm. Happy with the first half, said there are things they need to clean up."

This isn't the first time in Campbell's tenure that he has taken over play-calling duties. After an 0-8 start to the 2021 season, his first at the helm, Campbell began calling plays in place of offensive coordinator Anthony Lynn.

Campbell would remain the play-caller for the remainder of that season, and Lynn was replaced as the team's offensive coordinator by Ben Johnson following the year.

Morton is in his first year with the organization, as he replaced Johnson who left in the offseason to become the head coach of the Chicago Bears.

Entering Sunday's game, the Lions ranked tied-for-25th in third-down conversion rate at 36.2 percent and had struggled in recent weeks. Before their victory over the Commanders, the Lions had lost two of their previous three games including a loss last week to the Minnesota Vikings in which the run game struggled.