Did Cowboys Win Because Lions Coach Dan Campbell Was Too Aggressive?

Detroit Lions coach Dan Campbell pushed beyond "aggressive'' to "irresponsible' in his late-game management against the Dallas Cowboys - and lost 20-19 because of it.

Coach Dan Campbell has built a culture of aggressiveness that's allowed the Detroit Lions, just two years after going 3-13-1, to win a division title for the first time since 1993. The former NFL tight end has done a remarkable job, turning a laughingstock franchise into one that looks like a legitimate contender with the NFC playoff approaching. 

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But there's a difference between being "aggressive'' and being "irresponsible,'' and some would argue that Campbell was more the latter late in a 20-19 loss to the Dallas Cowboys Saturday evening. 

It's one thing to call a fake punt deep in your own territory in the second quarter against the Cowboys, which Campbell and the Lions successfully did Saturday. It's probably even smart -- on the road with overtime potentially coming down to a coin toss -- to call for a two-point conversion rather than kicking the game-tying extra point late in the fourth quarter. 

It looks like Taylor Decker reported here 👀
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— PFF (@PFF) December 31, 2023

But whether it was a failure of offensive tackle Taylor Decker to report as an eligible receiver before the two-point conversion attempt or a refereeing mistake, once the initial successful conversion was wiped off the board and the Lions were backed up five yards, we will argue that logic you have to kick the game-tying extra point and hope the coin comes up in your favor in overtime. 

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Instead, without hesitation, Campbell had the Lions line up to run a two-point conversion needing seven yards, which is, frankly ... insane. Even once do-it-all Dallas defender Micah Parsons jumped offsides allowing Detroit to move up half the distance to the goal, the odds say it's just too much of a risk at the four-yard line to not kick the extra point. 

The Lions can't convert the two-point conversion. pic.twitter.com/iWBn9ycnQq

— TSN (@TSN_Sports) December 31, 2023

"I told the offense that we were going down with 1:41 left ... we were gonna go down and score ... and then we were gonna go for two and finish this game out," Campbell said postgame. "I told them that, and so that's what we were doing." 

And that made sense at the two-yard line. Any deeper than that, though, wasn't worth the risk. 

Perhaps if you have Josh Allen under center, this is a different discussion. There are quarterbacks who are legitimate threats to carry the ball the nearly four yards the Lions needed for a win. There are also better passers than Jared Goff, who has revived his career in Detroit but had two bad interceptions Saturday and perhaps still falls short of being a championship-caliber quarterback.

"We were going for [the] win," Campbell said emphatically when asked if the penalty made him second-guess going for two. 

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Our argument: After getting backed up, the best path to the win would have been kicking the extra point and hoping the momentum you grabbed late in in the fourth quarter would carry over to overtime. 

Instead, on the third two-point conversion attempt, offensive coordinator Ben Johnson came up with a dud. Even if backup tight end James Mitchell -- he of the 12 career receptions -- had caught the pass from Goff, Cowboys safety Jayron Kearse was waiting to tackle him well short of the end zone. 

Johnson deserves the head coaching buzz he's received, but this wasn't a good play call. 

Realistically, though, Johnson shouldn't have been in the position to make more than one play call. Setting aside whatever reason the original two-point conversion was taken off the board, it was, and with it the Lions were asked to move back five yards. Instead of kicking the extra point, Campbell got too aggressive for his own good and bailed out Cowboys coach Mike McCarthy, whose disastrous late-game management would have otherwise been the talk of the Sunday morning NFL shows.