How Jared Goff Factored Into Lions Late Fourth-Down Decision

Analyst says Goff was big part of decision to play for the win against Packers.

Detroit Lions quarterback Jared Goff (16), center, talks to teammates. / Junfu Han / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

The Detroit Lions' aggressive approach has become somewhat divisive to pundits and analysts across the league. While some view coach Dan Campbell's decisions to push the limits and try to convert fourth downs reckless, others see it as a product of him having faith in his team.

The most recent example of this came in the team's Thursday win over the Green Bay Packers. Detroit went for it on five fourth downs, converting four of them including a fourth-and-1 from Green Bay's 21-yard line with under a minute to go with the game tied at 31.

Rather than kick the field goal right away and leave the Packers with a little under 40 seconds and no timeouts, Detroit went for it with the intention of running out the remainder of the clock and kicking a field goal with no time remaining, which is how it wound up going.

On the latest episode of his podcast, Richard Sherman shared what he learned about how the decision to go-for-it went down after the game, as he was covering the game as part of the pregame panel for Prime Video.

Sherman said that quarterback Jared Goff was ultimately a big part of the decision to go for it.

“Jared basically comes over, and Dan’s on the headset telling him, ‘Hey, we’re kicking it. Get the field goal team ready, we’re gonna stand here, we’re gonna talk it through but we’re gonna kick it.’ And Jared, dejected, is like, ‘Man, I wanted to go,’" Sherman recalled. "Dan Campbell just looks at him and says, ‘You want to do it? F it, we’re going for it.’ And he changes his mind and goes for it. He trusts his men, he trusts his team, he trusts his offensive line that they’re gonna get it done for him."

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How Jared Goff factored into Lions fourth down decision late against Packers @CBooher_ @DetroitPodcast from latest edition of Richard Sherman’s Podcast
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The Lions' fourth-year coach is widely viewed as one of the best leaders in the sport, as he has clearly generated a bond with his team that is uncommon. It's built on trust, and Campbell routinely displays this trust with his decisions to go for it on fourth down.

On one hand, he's trusting his offense to pick up the necessary yardage. On the other, he's trusting his defense to overcome the situation that they would be in if the offense fails to convert. This trust is what makes Sherman believe that players believe in Campbell as much as they do.

"And some people may look at that and say, ‘Is that really how it should go?’ Yeah, yeah that’s how it should go. You can do all the analytics in the world, you can say, ‘Oh, this percentage, or this percentage,’ but at the end of the day, do you trust your team? Do you trust your guys?" Sherman said. "And if your quarterback says he thinks that they can get it done, and you say, ‘I’m gonna believe in my quarterback and what he sees and what he does.’ That’s a gut feeling, and that’s why this team is ready through walls for Dan Campbell, because he believes in them like they believe in him.”