Dan Campbell on Officiating Errors: We'll Create Our Own 'Luck'

Dan Campbell isn’t having the ‘Same Old Lions’ talk. He’s here because he wants to change the culture and build a winner.

Yet, part of Detroit Lions culture right now is finding unique ways to lose football games. Over the course of the last decade, Detroit has committed phantom penalties and fallen victim to rules on its way to historic losses.

This came to a point last Sunday, when the Ravens and quarterback Lamar Jackson got away with a delay of game before kicker Justin Tucker nailed a NFL-record 66-yard field goal.

But Campbell is not blaming the officials for that game – or any other for that matter.

“That’s not my place,” Campbell said. “I came from a place where we didn’t have some great calls go our way either and we won a lot of games so I don’t use that as an excuse. We’ll create our own luck.”

Campbell came from New Orleans, where the team had a Super Bowl appearance snatched away in 2019 when no penalty was called on a clear hit to the helmet from Los Angeles Ram Nickell Robey-Coleman on Saints wideout Tommylee Lewis.

Had the penalty been called, the Saints could’ve run out the clock and kicked the game-winning field goal. Instead, because the incompletion occurred on third down, the Saints kicked a field goal on the next snap. This gave the Rams plenty of time to march down to tie, and eventually win the game in overtime.

One can reel off the unique ways the Lions have lost – the phantom hands-to-the-face penalty in Green Bay, a facemask keeping the Packers offense on the field and leading to a hail mary years prior. There’s been illegal touching penalties, such as the one in Seattle, and even penalty flags being picked up, like in the playoff game at Dallas. That’s just to name a few.

Then there was last Sunday, where Jackson got an extra nearly two seconds to snap the ball. While this is egregious, there’s the simple counterargument of not allowing a fourth-and-19 conversion just two plays earlier, which the Lions did thanks to a miscommunication on the back end.

This is what Campbell means by making your own luck. You have to stay out of your own way and make the plays when needed to make them.

Campbell is here to change this. He doesn’t want his team complaining about no calls or wasting time blaming referees.

Turning the tide of the Lions organization starts when the team is able to get out of its own way. Minimizing penalties and staying out of position where even the phantom penalties cannot be called.

That’s how winning can be accomplished in the Detroit Lions organization.

Notes

• Outside linebacker Trey Flowers is likely out for Sunday’s game against the Chicago Bears. He did not play last week against the Ravens.
• The latest in NFL Network’s ‘A Football Life’ documentary series will feature Lions legend and recently inducted Hall of Famer Calvin Johnson. The show will debut on NFL Network Friday night at 9 p.m.
• Romeo and Julian Okwara's mother prepared a traditional Nigerian meal for their teammates and reflected on how their culture has shaped their careers and lives.