Dan Campbell knew there was no way around it. With the Lions' defense decimated by injuries, he went to Jared Goff and the offense early this week and laid down a challenge: "Hey, it’s your turn to hold your weight, carry the load and make this thing go."
"For me," said Goff, "that’s the greatest feeling ever. You're like, ‘Let’s effing go and let’s make this thing happen.'"
Staring at 4th and goal from two yards out late in the second half, Campbell left his offense on the field and Goff hit Jahmyr Gibbs for a 17-7 lead. He made the same decision from three yards out midway through the third quarter after the Packers had pulled ahead, and Goff found Tim Patrick to put the Lions back in front 24-21. The drive had been extended by a 4th and 1 sneak by Goff near midfield.
Looking at another 4th and 1 from their own 31-yard line later in the third, Campbell's decision to go for it backfired when the Packers blew up a toss play to Jahmyr Gibbs. Four plays later, Green reclaimed the lead. Campbell never flinched.
"Nope," he said. "Look, the guys knew. Players knew, coaches knew. ... That meant the risk was there, and if you fail in negative territory, you’re trying to hold them to a field goal. But I knew that was how I wanted to play that team with where we were at.”
"That’s just how we play ball," said veteran corner Carlton Davis III. "Coach said it before the game, 'We’re going for all the fourth and 1's, fourth and shorts, that’s what we’re about to do.' And it’s like, 'Yeah, do it, Coach, because if y'all don’t get it, we’re gonna get back on the field and play ball."
So when the biggest fourth down of the night arose with 43 seconds to play and the Lions needing a single yard to essentially seal the game, "not a surprise," said Penei Sewell, when Campbell decided to go for it. He didn't want the go-ahead field goal, which would have allowed Jordan Love and the Packers a chance to respond. He wanted the game-winner.
"I just felt like we needed to end it on offense, and I did not want to give that ball back," Campbell said. "I believed we could get that. I believed we could convert, and I trust that O-Line, I trust David (Montgomery) and they came through for us."
"The moment I heard that," said Sewell, "it was time to execute."
The Lions ran to the right behind Sewell, two tight ends and receiver Tim Patrick. Sewell and Kevin Zeitler walled off their side of the defensive line, while Shane Zylstra, Sam LaPorta and Patrick sealed off two defensive backs and a linebacker. Sewell erased another linebacker himself. Even after Goff stumbled on the handoff -- "I saw him trip and my heart skipped a beat," said Amon-Ra St. Brown -- Montgomery had it the whole way. He needed one yard and gained seven.
"I don’t think it’s really about me," said Sewell. "Whatever the call is, the point of attack is the whole O-line, and we talk about that every day in practice and into film. We know when the run is called, the big hat’s on us. And at the end of the day, we gotta get the job done."
"It’s a hell of a call by Ben (Johnson)," said Campbell. "I knew how I wanted to play this game, the team knew it, and everything in me told me, ‘Let’s finish this,’ and so we did.”
It's also a hell of a call by Campbell. A lot of NFL coaches might think they'd show the same level of conviction in a spot like that. Reality is, almost all of them would err on the side of convention and kick the field goal. Would any coach other than Campbell go for it? Patrick smiled with pride: "Nope."
"That's why he gets paid the big bucks," Patrick said.
For Campbell, the commitment to the plan stems from the sturdiness of his own principles. Half-measures don't win games. If it makes sense to go for it in the second quarter, so it does with time ticking down in the fourth. He's fearless because of his faith in his players. Most of the Lions' core pieces on offense -- and their coordinator -- have been here for several years.
"When you’re in it with these guys and you’ve been around them long enough ... I felt like we’d find a way," Campbell said. "You know you’re taking a high level of risk, but I felt like with our guys, it wouldn’t be as big of a risk as it may appear to be.”
That faith, said Goff, is "bigger than anything."
"That’s all you want from a head coach is to believe in you," he said. "That gives us that little extra umph to want to make it happen."