It's been an interesting couple weeks of reviews for the Lions. After getting burned in their loss to the Chiefs by a late reversal of a touchdown that may or may not have been influenced by a replay assistant against NFL protocol, the Lions were the beneficiaries of a rare double review in their win over the Buccaneers.
But it was Campbell's second challenge Monday night that had most people scratching their heads. Leading 24-19 with a little less than eight minutes to play, the Lions got home for a strip-sack of Baker Mayfield courtesy of Tyrus Wheat and Al-Quadin Muhammad. The Bucs clearly recovered after a couple Lions had the ball slip through their hands, but Campbell threw the challenge flag all the same, thinking that Mayfield might have been down before the ball came out. That would have resulted in 3rd and 10 for Tampa instead of 3rd and 4.
The recovery by the Bucs stood and the Lions lost their first timeout.
"That was a bad challenge," Campbell said Tuesday. "That was just a total mess-up on my part. That was me thinking that he was down at the fumble site, and that’s more grasping for straws. I shouldn’t have done that. So if you were totally like, 'What the hell is he doing?' you’d be correct."
As for the double review that overturned a fourth down conversion by the Bucs early in the fourth quarter, Campbell confirmed Tuesday that he was challenging whether or not Cade Otton completed the catch as he went to the ground. At that point, all reviewable aspects of the play are under review, including whether or not Otton reached the line to gain.
The officials originally upheld the first down and stripped the Lions of a timeout, before an "enhanced view" from the TV broadcast that came in late proved that Otton was short. The review was reversed, the Lions got the ball back on downs and retained their timeout.
Asked if he felt like the review that went against the Lions in Kansas City had any bearing on this one going in their favor, Campbell said, "I know that every game there’s different angles, and it took a while to get the angle that they saw that proved he did not get the marker. Normally, it doesn’t always go down that way, so, I don’t know, I'll take it.
"We'll take it and we’ll move on."