© Reuters
The Detroit Lions saw off the challenge of the Los Angeles Chargers to complete a narrow but enthralling 41-38 win at the SoFi Stadium, with head coach Dan Campbell roundly praised for a brave fourth-down call that aided their victory.
The win leaves the Lions on a very impressive 7-2 run, and fans of the team may want to place a wager on Campbell's outfit making it deep into the post-season and perhaps all the way to the Super Bowl and if that is the case, this assessment and in-depth analysis of sports betting in Michigan will come in very handy as a tool for selecting the best brands to sign up with.
Dan Campbell is well known for his aggressive demeanor and his take-no-prisoners attitude, and this certainly helped in the run-in during their tightly fought encounter with the Chargers, as evidenced by his decision to go for it on fourth-and-2.
With just 1 minute and 47 seconds on the clock and with the score tied at 38 a piece, at fourth-and-2, Campbell could have gone the safer route of kicking a field goal from 44 yards; this decision would have made even more sense given that the Los Angeles Chargers had only one timeout left and therefore running out the clock would have been more plausible.
Indeed, he told his offense to go for it, getting closer and making up more ground and, more importantly, taking the clock down to practically zero for Riley Patterson to then score the field goal and give the Chargers no chance to respond.
Campbell explained his decision in the post-game interviews, stating;
"I wanted to finish with the ball,"
"I trusted our guys, I trusted Goff. Going into that situation—there's going to be a lot of time left (if) you kick a field goal."
"I liked where we were at offensively. We're playing good, Goff was in a good spot, and I just felt like that was the right thing to do."
"Some say it's a boneheaded move, and some say it's not,"
"I made the decision and I stick by that decision." Campbell added.
The decision was proven right by the players on the field of play, who were more than capable of playing out the game precisely as their head coach would have wanted, and one player, wide receiver Amon-Ra St.Brown, was very pleased with the mentality shown by Campbell.
"I was excited,"
"I even gave Campbell a high five coming off the sidelines. I don't know how many coaches are going to go for that in that situation. So hat's off to him." St. Brown added.
Quarterback Jared Goff echoed these sentiments;
"He's got big balls and he showed it there,"
"It's a lot of fun when he puts the ball in our hands to make a play," Goff stated.
2016 was the last time the Lions made it to the postseason, and Campbell has certainly started to move things in the right direction at Ford Field. His first season ended in a 3-13-1 record, the worst record since 2009, but his second campaign nearly resulted in a playoff berth, and at 7-2 for 2023, Detroit fans can certainly start to dream of a season that doesn't end abruptly when the regular season comes to a close.
