The Big Lead

Dan Campbell explains Lions' fourth-down decision

By Max Weisman

Campbell is one of the most aggressive coaches in the league
Campbell is one of the most aggressive coaches in the league / Junfu Han / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images
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Boy, Dan Campbell sure is a risk-taker. Facing a fourth-and-one from the Green Bay Packers 21-yard line in a 31-31 game with 43 seconds left, conventional NFL wisdom said the Detroit Lions would kick a field goal to take the lead. But Dan Campbell isn't a conventional NFL head coach.

Detroit kept its offense on the field, knowing if one yard wasn't gained, the Packers would have a chance to drive down the field and attempt a game-winning field goal. The Lions got more than a yard. David Montgomery burst through the line for seven yards, effectively sealing the game. 40 seconds later, Jake Bates hit a 35-yard field goal and the Lions walked off their home turf victorious again.

Here's what Campbell had to say about the gutsy fourth-down decision.

"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. I trusted that O-line, I trusted David [Montgomery] and they came through for us."

RELATED: Aaron Rodgers' comments on Jets ownership prove the end is near in New York

With the 34-31 win, Detroit improved to 12-1, winners of 11 straight games since dropping their only game of the season in Week 2 to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. That win streak is a franchise record. They've now clinched a playoff spot for the second straight season and are guaranteed to remain atop the NFC North after this week's games are played. The division itself, though, might be decided by a Week 18 game between the Lions and the Minnesota Vikings.

Detroit will have ten days off before playing at home against the Buffalo Bills, in what could be a preview of the Super Bowl. NFL fans deserve a Super Bowl matchup as fun as Lions-Bills, and we'll see the regular season version of it next Sunday in Detroit.

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