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Dan Campbell Gave Jared Goff a Funny Compliment for His On-Field Performance

Stephen Douglas

Jared Goff and Dan Campbell helped the Lions win their season debut.
Jared Goff and Dan Campbell helped the Lions win their season debut. / Junfu Han / USA TODAY NETWORK
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The Detroit Lions beat the Los Angeles Rams 26-20 in overtime on Sunday night. The Lions blew a 17-3 lead, but came back and forced overtime with a field goal with 17-seconds remaining. The Lions then won the coin toss and drove right down the field to score the game-winning touchdon on the first and only possession of overtime.

After the game Lions coach Dan Campbell gave one of his patented locker room speeches that left players and viewers ready to run through the wall of a chain restaurant. Campbell's message was simple—winning a game in the NFL is good and keep working to get better. He also shouted out a few important performances, including quarterback Jared Goff.

Goff didn't light up the scoreboard or box score with his performance, but he did win the coin toss to start overtime, which is what Campbell was specifically addressing.

"Defense, we held. Fox, what an outstanding freakin' punt to help our defense. And offense, we do what we gotta do to get into overtime. And then we win the toss. Goff, nice job. We go all the way down. That's a damn good win."

If you're wondering why everyone laughed when Campbell complimented Goff there, it's because he didn't really win the toss. Matthew Stafford lost the toss by calling heads and the coin landed tails-up.

And yet Goff got to bask in the glory of victory after telling the referee that the Lions would receive the kick.

That's what makes Campbell great. He never misses an opportunity to build his guys up or keep things light. As long as you do your job, that's all he cares about. Even if sometimes your job is nothing more than saying you'll take the ball after someone else is on the wrong side of a 50/50 guess.

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Stephen Douglas
STEPHEN DOUGLAS

Stephen Douglas is a Senior Writer on the Breaking & Trending News Team at Sports Illustrated. He has been in journalism and media since 2008, and now casts a wide net with coverage across all sports. Stephen spent more than a decade with The Big Lead and has previously written for Uproxx and The Sporting News. He has three children, two degrees and one now unverified Twitter account.

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