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Lions Coach Dan Campbell Had a Blunt Assessment of the Team’s Failed Fake Punt

The coach recently told fans to “wear diapers” when watching games because of the team’s fourth-down risks.

Madison Williams

Lions Coach Dan Campbell Had a Blunt Assessment of the Team’s Failed Fake Punt
Lions Coach Dan Campbell Had a Blunt Assessment of the Team’s Failed Fake Punt /
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Lions coach Dan Campbell recently stated that Detroit fans should “wear a diaper” when watching the team because he likes to take risks on the field, specifically on fourth downs.

The team’s fourth-down risks continued on Thursday against the Packers, with some of the choices backfiring. In the third quarter, the Lions attempted to make a big play on a fourth down by faking a punt from their own 23-yard line. The Lions were stopped immediately and didn’t gain any yardage, giving the Packers the ball just outside the red zone.

From the moment of the snap, this fake never stood a chance.

Green Bay quarterback Jordan Love threw a touchdown pass a couple plays later to put the Packers up 29–14.

Campbell was asked about this decision after their 29–22 loss, and he accepted the criticism for the play call.

“That's a bad call on me,” Campbell said. “I shouldn’t have done that to those guys. Bad call.”

The Lions were only successful on one of the five fourth-down attempts in Thursday’s loss, and fell to 8-3 on the season.

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Madison Williams
MADISON WILLIAMS

Madison Williams is a staff writer on the Breaking and Trending News team at Sports Illustrated, where she specializes in tennis but covers a wide range of sports from a national perspective. Before joining SI in 2022, Williams worked at The Sporting News. Having graduated from Augustana College, she completed a master’s in sports media at Northwestern University. She is a dog mom and an avid reader.

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