Dan Campbell Shares Thinking Behind Game-Sealing Fourth-Down Decision

Stephen Douglas | Dec 6, 2024

Dan Campbell and Jared Goff talk during the Lions win over the Packers. / Junfu Han / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Dan Campbell and the Detroit Lions beat the Green Bay Packers to clinch a playoff berth and win their 11th straight game. Detroit put the game away on a gutsy fourth down call from Dan Campbell, who then followed that with another incredible postgame speech.

After sufficiently firing up his team he headed to his postgame press conference to explain what went into the decision. It didn't sound like there was much to discuss in Campbell's mind. From the team's official website:

"I just felt like we needed to end it on offense," Campbell said. "I did not want to give that ball back and I believed we could get that. I believed we could convert, and I trust that O-Line, I trust David [Montgomery], and they came through for us.

"It's a hell of a call by [offensive coordinator] Ben [Johnson]. I knew how I wanted to play this game, the team knew it, and everything in me told me, 'Let's finish this,' and so we did."

While some people were surprised by the decision, you wouldn't find any of them in the Detroit locker room. Jared Goff revealed that Campbell had been steadfast about going for it throughout the week because the Packers were such a good team.

Yet again Campbell said what they were going to do and they went out and did just that. No wonder he's not worried about anyone seeing the playbook.

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