Detroit Lions coach Dan Campbell has gained a reputation as one of the league’s most aggressive coaches, and the numbers back it up.
Under Campbell, the Lions have regularly gone for it on fourth down rather than punting or attempting field goals, pushing for more touchdowns and becoming the league’s top-scoring offense in the process. Larry Lage of The Associated Press noted that Campbell’s aggressive approach has also made NFL history.
“Campbell has kept his offense on the field, instead of kicking field goals or punting, a league-high 151 times on fourth down over the last four seasons,” Lage wrote. “He’s the only NFL coach to go for it that many times in a four-year span since at least 1991, according to Sportradar.”
Dan Campbell Explains Approach
Campbell said he wanted to bring a new philosophy to the Lions when he became head coach in 2021, treating fourth down as the final play on offense rather than an opportunity to punt. His players learned that the offense would regularly have four chances to make the line to gain.
“Our guys, for the most part, look at it as it’s just the next down,” Campbell said. “As opposed to this is do or die, this is the last chance.”
Lions players have bought into the approach, saying they understand why the kicking units stay on the sidelines on many fourth downs.
“They’ve figured out a little bit of who I am over time now,” he said. “This didn’t just pop up.
“I think they have a pretty good grasp of when we’re going to do it, when we’re not. Some games we go in saying that we’re going to be more aggressive than others. Sometimes it just flows that way.”
The strategy has worked this season, pushing the Lions to a franchise- and league-best 15 wins and the No. 1 overall seed in the NFC for the playoffs. The team has a bye week before returning to the field in the divisional round.
Keeping Defense off the Field
Campbell said the team’s defense is part of the equation this year. The Lions have suffered a spate of injuries on defense, losing several key members of the secondary as well as star pass rusher Aidan Hutchinson. When the Lions went for it on fourth down five times in a 34-31 win over the Green Bay Packers earlier this season, Campbell said keeping the banged-up defense off the field was part of the reason.
While the strategy paid off in the short term, the Lions are also looking for some relief on defense in the long term. Hutchinson has been going through rehab and could be nearing a return from the fractured leg that cut his season short.
Campbell said the former first-round pick might be able to take the field again in February, which means he would return should the Lions advance to the Super Bowl for the first time in franchise history.
“Look, I’m going to say it again,” Campbell said, via the Detroit Free Press. “He has a season-ending injury. But if anybody can come back from this, it would be Aidan is the best way to say it.”
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