Dan Campbell Will 'Never' Pull Starters in Second or Third Quarter

Campbell explains decision to keep starters in game until fourth quarter.

Detroit Lions head coach Dan Campbell. / Junfu Han/USA TODAY Network via Imagn Images

The Detroit Lions won handily against the Jacksonville Jaguars in Week 11 with a dominant performance. They left little to doubt, scoring touchdowns on their first seven drives and ending only one drive, which ended with the game-ending kneel-downs, without points.

Coach Dan Campbell elected to leave his starters in through the start of the fourth quarter, eventually pulling them after a touchdown pass from Jared Goff to Amon-Ra St. Brown with 13:23 remaining. During his weekly radio interview, Campbell explained why he left the starters in for as long as he did even with the game not in doubt.

"Well you want to win the game. That's number one," Campbell said. "What you don't want to do is you get in one of those and you're up, and then you decide you're gonna let off the gas and, 'Let's get the starters out,' and then they mount a comeback."

The fourth-year coach referenced an instance in which the Philadelphia Eagles were up 22 points on the Jaguars, only for Jacksonville to score 16 unanswered points in the span of 14 seconds of game time.

As a result, Campbell didn't want to leave anything up for grabs. Additionally, he wanted to get the starters out at a point where they were executing at a high level in order to have momentum carry over into the coming week.

"These things happen, man. And you don't know what's coming down the wire. Yeah, the odds are low but man, you've got to be careful. You sure as hell don't want to be up like that and end up being in a dogfight at the end and something bad happens," Campbell said. "That's one. Two, you want to make sure you end on a good note. You're playing good, efficient football, the guys feel good about it, you're in a rhythm, I think it bleeds into the next week and I think that's important, so we did that. The right time is to pull them out there."

By leaving the starters in, there is an inherent risk of injury attached. However, Campbell said he will never take his players out before the fourth quarter regardless of score or circumstance.

"If you're able to pull them out in the early fourth, great, and we were able to do that," Campbell explained. "But if you're asking me to pull somebody out in the third quarter, or pull somebody out in the second quarter before Anzalone gets hurt, I'm never gonna do that."

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Where Lions can still improve

The Lions looked the part of the NFL's best team in their win Sunday, punishing a struggling team. However, Campbell noted the coaching staff is always looking for ways to improve.

Offensively, Campbell noted that the group had multiple drives where they could've scored quicker with better execution. This will be important as the team endures a grueling stretch late in the year stacked with divisional opponents, a showdown with AFC contender Buffalo and an NFC Championship rematch against San Francisco.

"There's always things to clean up. I mean, there was things in all three units," Campbell said. "Offensively, one of the things that came up here is, 'How do you improve on scoring every possession?' Well, there was about three of them we could've scored five plays sooner. It worked out in that game, but what if you're playing Green Bay, Minnesota, you're playing Kansas City, you're playing Buffalo? If you're having to go score for score or whatever's going on, you may not get another reload on it. That's what it is, you've got to clean those up."

The same can be said for the defense. Campbell's staff is holding the team to an elite standard centered around pursuing perfection, as it will come in handy as Detroit chases a championship.

"Defensively, we had some things come up where we weren't where we were supposed to be and it didn't catch up to us, but you play Josh Allen or you play Love or you play one of these guys, they're gonna find it and it's gonna hurt you," Campbell said. "It won't just be an explosive, it'll be a touchdown. Was it good? Yeah. Was it improved? Absolutely. But we still have a little ways to go.

"We can get better in all three phases, and that's the job. Our guys know that," Campbell continued. "You should strive to be perfect, you should strive to play the perfect game knowing you never will. But you're always grasping for it, you're always gonna try and find a way to absolutely play the perfect game."