SAN FRANCISCO: Head coach Dan Campbell is not the person to blame for the Detroit Lions’ heartbreaking NFC Championship Game loss to the 49ers.
Angry Lions supporters took to social media after their team’s 24-7 lead at halftime in San Francisco was transformed into a 34-31 loss. Many of those spectators criticised Campbell for missing two opportunities for big field goals on fourth down.
To be honest though, that isn’t fair at all.
The contested field goals would have come from roughly 46 and 48 yards, respectively. Campbell decided to go for a 4th and 2 on the 46-yard try instead, and a 4th and 3 on the 48-yarder.
I understand that this was an intensely sentimental game, but come on, let’s be a little practical. High-probability conversions were preferred by Campbell over low-probability kicks. Those were both wise judgements to make.
Riley Patterson replaced Michael Badgley, the Lions’ summertime kicker, on the roster. They signed Badgley back to the practice squad and then moved him up to the regular roster only when Patterson started to struggle.
Badgley’s lack of dependability is the reason he was available for signing in the middle of December.
Sure, he scored a crucial point in the victory over the Rams, but that was in front of his home crowd—a dome. During the regular season, Badgley had missed more extra points than field goals longer than forty yards.
After a game like this, it’s so simple to point the finger at the coach, but your annoyance is unjustified. The Lions had invested a lot of money on their kicker, who wasn’t even on the roster six weeks prior, and Campbell was never going to chance it all on his leg.
Lions defeat Rams because of Campbell’s courage to go for a score on fourth down. They defeated Kansas City in the first game thanks to his fake punt. If you were upset that he missed several low-percentage field goals in the season’s pivotal game, I imagine you were just as upset when his risk-taking paid off earlier in the campaign.
The most difficult aspect of holding Campbell accountable for this defeat is that the first of those two fourth-down plays was successful despite being dropped by the person who was supposed to catch the ball.
Which leads me to the real point of blame.
The ultimate team game is football. That specific play won’t work most of the time if 10 players perform well but the 11th doesn’t.
Regretfully, Josh Reynolds was that eleventh player in two of the most important situations on Sunday.
Jared Goff hit Reynolds in the hands for what should have been a convert inside the red zone on a fourth and 2 play from the 28-yard line with the Lions leading by 14 points.
