Reviewing the three fourth down decisions made by Detroit Lions Dan Campbell against 49ers.
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00:00 John, as you know by now, I mean, Dan Campbell made a couple of very controversial fourth down calls during the second half of Sunday's NFC Championship game loss to the 49ers.
00:09 Now, in retrospect, when you look at that and review his coaching in that game, John, what do you make of what Dan Campbell actually did coaching wise?
00:17 Was it effective? Was there some ineffectiveness? And how would you evaluate it officially?
00:21 Yeah, Vito, I think it's good that we took a couple days to let emotion simmer down.
00:26 Dan Campbell had three key fourth down calls. And I look at it, two of them, I think you could say could have went the other way.
00:35 In the second quarter, the Lions were dominating, they were playing at a high level. It's fourth down and about two, and you recognize they're at the two, two and a half yard line.
00:44 You see Dan Campbell look over, the Lions have been running the ball very well. You're up 14 at the time.
00:50 And I thought he went against his aggressive nature and kicked the field goal, took the points.
00:56 But I think that he brought it up in the postgame presser that you could argue he probably was really, really close and deciding to go for it.
01:03 So that one there, I think could have went the other way. Now, the fourth down and two to Josh Reynolds, you could argue was fine.
01:10 You recognize that there's momentum that the 49ers had started to get. And you have an offense that's really solid.
01:17 And the play was there. It was a solid play call by Ben Johnson. And it was simply a drop pass.
01:24 If Josh Reynolds makes that catch, keeps that drive going, then potentially the Lions, who had been solid all year offensively,
01:32 and been able to respond to momentum swings, if they continue to potentially advance and score points there, then maybe the 49ers do not make the comeback.
01:44 So that one you could give to Dan Campbell as being fine. And the final one was the one where you have an opportunity down three
01:51 to potentially kick the field goal with around seven and a half minutes left in the game.
01:56 The Lions decided to go for it. Unfortunately, the 49ers brought a little bit of pressure and forced Jared Goff to scramble a little bit woefully
02:05 through a pass short that had no chance. And off script, Jared Goff tends to struggle.
02:11 And it was really unfortunate because in the end, the 49ers went on to win.
02:15 You could argue, if you tie the football game right there in that spot, even if the 49ers take the next position and score,
02:21 you still have a chance. When you fail, as a result of the 49ers making it a two-possession game, you now are forced to press.
02:30 And in the end, it proved costly. So I just thought in this contest, Vito, Dan Campbell kind of went wrong in two of the three decisions.
02:39 And even though some of the analytics will say it's close and favors going for it, I think Dan Campbell needed to read the flow of the game,
02:47 understand in the second half, the momentum had swung to the 49ers' side, and that taking points at certain times might have been the right thing in the second half.
02:58 So you recognize, Vito, that every decision can be reviewed, and Dan Campbell is going to accept all the scrutiny.
03:04 He's been this way the entire season, and many people will support him, and many people do like analytics and understand that Dan Campbell is aggressive,
03:13 and they've supported the fact that the Lions were able to execute. But in this case, Vito, in the postseason, when the pressure's on and you're on the road,
03:23 and there's a momentum swing happening, sometimes three words are key. Take the points.
03:29 Absolutely. John, thanks for all the time.
03:31 time!