One player on the Lions has come out in vocal defense of head coach Dan Campbell’s ill-fated fourth-down gambles in the NFC Championship game.
Linebacker Alex Anzalone wrote a piece in The Players Tribune backing up his head coach.
“We were all behind Dan on the 4th down call. Let’s get that out of the way first. If you could rewind time, we’d all do it again. A hundred times out of a hundred. The offense. The defense. Everybody. If you have been following this team’s journey for the last three years, then you know how we play football. You know the mentality that got us here,” Anzalone wrote.
“It was the right decision — and I’m not talking about the right decision for analytics or talk radio or whatever. It was the right call for us, especially in that moment. When you’re in that situation, 20 games into an NFL season, it’s not like a video game. You’re not playing ‘Madden.’
“You had guys out there playing with bum ankles. Guys playing with MCL sprains. Guys taking nerve injections and toradol. Guys who could barely get out of bed that morning. It’s a battle of wills at that point in the season. You’re just running on pure belief and adrenaline.
“I feel like if you shy away from your identity in that moment, then you’re betraying the very thing that got you there.”
Twice in the second half of the NFC title game against the Niners, Campbell opted to go for it on fourth down instead of sending out kicker Michael Badgley, and both times, the Lions did not convert.
Nonetheless, Anzalone pointed out that to kick the field goal would have been out of character for what brought the Lions to the doorstep of the Super Bowl.
“On 4th down, in that situation, we’re always going for the kill. That mentality took us from 0-10-1 to the NFC Championship game in just a few seasons. Honestly, if anything, when we decided to kick the field goal in the first half, I was more surprised then,” the linebacker wrote.
“When the chips are down, Detroit is always going to bet on Detroit.”
One of the Lions’ fourth-down calls would have been converted had wideout Josh Reynolds held onto a catchable ball thrown by quarterback Jared Goff.
Somewhat surprisingly, the Lions did opt to kick a field goal at the end of the first half when facing fourth-and-goal from the Niners’ three-yard line.
Speaking to reporters after the game, Campbell said he wouldn’t have done anything differently on the fourth-down calls.
“It’s easy hindsight. I get it. I get that, but I don’t regret those decisions, and it’s hard,” he said.
“It’s hard because we didn’t come through, and it wasn’t able to work out, but I don’t. And I understand the scrutiny I’ll get — that’s part of the gig, man — but it just didn’t work out.”