Since taking over as head coach of the Detroit Lions in January 2021, Dan Campbell has earned a reputation as an inveterate punter.
Sunday, in the association final against San Francisco 49ers, Campbell has done nothing to remove that label.
If this tendency to trust his attack more than the average NFL instructor has smiled on him more than once in the past, inevitably, he exposes himself to criticism in the event of failure.
This is what awaits Campbell after two choices on fourth down which left many wondering, at a time when his Lions were trying to stay the course in the middle of a second half collapse which ended in a loss of 34 to 31 in front of San Francisco 49ers.
During his post-match media availability, visibly shaken by the turn of events, Campbell weighed his words at the podium, without shying away.
Rubbing his face with his hand for several seconds as a sign of annoyance, he tried as best he could to justify himself.
The first of Campbell’s bold decisions came relatively early in the third quarter, after his defensive unit held the 49ers to a field goal to close the score to 24-10.
We will never know to what extent the dynamics of the meeting would have changed if Detroit had regained its priority of 17 points rather than committing the turnaround.
“I had a good feeling about our chances of converting,” he summed up straight away. I saw it as a chance to regain momentum, to slow them down somewhat. They ticked off the seconds on the stopwatch; that’s what they do so well. I wanted to regain the upper hand. »
“Looking back, it’s always easy. I understand that… But I must say that I do not regret these decisions [de ne pas opter pour les trois points qu’auraient procuré un botté de précision]. I accept the fact that my decisions will be scrutinized. The result was simply not what we were aiming for,” he said.
2024-01-29 03:34:00
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