The Lions were up 10 with two minutes to play and "usually at the end of the game you’re running it in that situation," said Amon-Ra St. Brown. "Burning the clock and taking a knee."
Instead, St. Brown was telling receivers coach Antwaan Randle El, "We gotta keep throwing it, keep throwing it!"
Specifically, keep throwing it to Josh Reynolds, who entered the game 36 yards shy of 600 on the season, which would unlock a $250,000 bonus in his contract. Reynolds entered the Lions' final drive with one catch for 18 yards.
“I just felt like we needed to do everything we could to get that player, all the dirty work he does for us, all the stuff in the run game, all the blocking, all the unselfish play, we’re going to do whatever it takes to get him something that he’s got," said Dan Campbell.
You didn't have to convince Jared Goff, whose relationship with Reynolds goes back to their days with the Rams. It was Reynolds who helped revive Goff and the Lions' passing attack when he arrived midway through the 2021 season. Goff wasn't going to miss a chance to get Reynolds his due.
He swung three straight passes to Reynolds in the flat, the first going for nine yards, the second for eight and the third for two. It was the third that did it, pushing Reynolds to 601 yards total. Then Goff hit him for seven more just to be sure.
"It was important for us to try to get him that number to get him his incentives and we were trying like hell all game to get it to him," said Goff. "It just wasn’t quite connecting and there at the end, kind of had to force it in some ways. It was cool. It was fun to be a part of that and make sure he’s well taken care of.”
Of the 40 passes Reynolds caught this season, 32 went for first downs. He led the Lions in yards per catch (15.2). He'll be a free agent this offseason after playing out his two-year, $6 million contract, which came with a nice bonus with some help from his teammates and coaches.
"I’m super happy for him," said St. Brown, who had quite the game and quite the season himself. "Definitely deserves it. I think he’s a really good receiver, underrated, people don’t see everything that he does. Every catch damn near he gets is a first down. So he’s a beast, we need him, definitely going to need him in these playoffs."