Some thought Dan Campbell took his gambles too far when he went for two following the officiating gaffe that pushed the Lions back to the seven-yard line in the final minute of last week's loss to the Cowboys. Including one Jim Costa, who has called it a lunatic decision.
Costa asked Campbell about the decision Tuesday morning on 97.1 The Ticket, to which Campbell said, "I told our offense we were going for the win. 'We’re going to go down, we’re going to score and we’re going for two, and I wasn’t coming off of that."
Campbell said he would have relented had the Lions been pushed outside the 10-yard line, but "we work inside the 10 every week, good on good, O vs D."
Pressed on the matter by Costa and Stoney, Campbell said, "You know what, go ahead and say it. Both of you. Say what you want to say."
"I think from the 7 it’s a low-percentage play," said Costa. "I think your chances of winning are lower than if you kick the extra point."
"No, say it like you would say it to anybody else," said Campbell. "I'm on the radio, say it like you want to say it."
Costa: "I thought it was a reckless decision.
"Thank you!" said Campbell.
So, does he regret in any way the decision to keep going for two?
"No."
After being bailed out by an offsides penalty on the Cowboys on the second two-point attempt, the Lions got a third chance from the 4, but Jared Goff couldn't connect with backup tight end James Mitchell on a pass that had a chance at the goal line. Campbell said "the play is not designed to go there originally," but it was Goff's only option based on the Cowboys' defense.
"If they play a certain coverage that is the last place it will go, and that was the exact coverage we got," he said. "You’re not thinking that’s going to be the first thing that’s going to pop. You’re hoping that (Sam) LaPorta is going to pop and he ended up creating a rub. So while Goff’s waiting for it, you realize, god, I gotta pull the trigger here, and it just didn’t work out, man."
The silver lining of the whole ordeal, said Campbell, "is we got put in that moment in a big-time game where there’s no way out. We’re going to find a way to win it there at the end, they knew it, and so now we’ve been through that stress level. We’ve been through that in a big-time game and it’s going to be good for us."