BY DAVE HOGG
DETROIT (AP) — Under coach Dan Campbell, the Detroit Lions have become synonymous with fourth down success.
Campbell goes for it on fourth down more than any other NFL coach, and Detroit’s success in those situations has been a major force in its transformation into an annual contender in the NFC.
This month, though, the success has started to fade.
On Nov. 16, the Lions went 0-for-5 on fourth down in a 16-9 loss to the Philadelphia Eagles. They didn’t go for it on fourth down in Sunday’s 34-27 overtime win against the Giants, but they tried twice in Thursday’s 31-24 loss to the Green Bay Packers.
Detroit trailed 17-14 at the half, but took the second-half kickoff and drove into Green Bay territory. On third down from the Packers 46, Jahmyr Gibbs was dropped for a 1-yard loss, setting up fourth-and-3.
Campbell called for an off-tackle play to Gibbs, but Micah Parsons and Isaiah McDuffie broke through the line and dragged Gibbs down for a 2-yard loss. Two plays later, Jordan Love threw a 51-yard touchdown pass to give the Packers a 24-14 lead.
“I don’t like that call,” Campbell said after the game. “I don’t know how good of an opportunity I gave us with that call. We still had a chance, and we didn’t take it.”
Early in the fourth quarter, still trailing by 10, the Lions faced fourth-and-3 at the Green Bay 21. This time, Campbell called a pass play, but two of Jared Goff’s favorite options were unavailable. Tight end Sam LaPorta is out for the season with a back injury and wide receiver Amon-Ra St. Brown left in the first quarter with an ankle injury.
That meant Jameson Williams was thrust into the role of possession receiver — something that doesn’t take advantage of his game-breaking speed.
Williams got open on a crossing route, but Goff’s pass was slightly off-target. Williams couldn’t make the catch, and the Lions missed a key scoring chance.
“I’ve got to give J-Mo a better throw on that play,” Goff said. “If I do, he makes the catch and he might score right there. Even if he doesn’t, we’re probably getting points out of that drive.”
Meanwhile, Packers coach Matt LaFleur took a page out of Campbell’s playbook, going for it on fourth down three times.
Love completed passes on all three plays, leading to two touchdowns and to clinch the game on the final drive.
The first time was early in the second quarter. Green Bay led 3-0 and faced fourth-and-3 on the Detroit 22. Not wanting to settle for another field goal, LaFleur had Love look for Dontayvion Wicks down the right sideline.
Wicks made the catch and got both feet inbounds for the first touchdown of the game.
“We came in here with an aggressive mindset,” LaFleur said. “That’s how you have to play against that team.”
After the Lions scored to make it 10-7, Green Bay got into Detroit territory for the third time. The Detroit defense forced fourth-and-1 at the 2-yard line. This time, Love hit Romeo Doubs on his second scoring pass of the game.
LaFleur still had one trick to play.
After the Lions kicked a field goal to make it 31-24 with 2:59 to play, Campbell decided to kick deep and trust his defense to get a stop.
Green Bay got one first down, but the Lions put the Packers in a fourth-and-3 from the Detroit 45. A field goal would have iced the game, but it would have been more than 60 yards and a miss would have given the Lions the ball inside Packers territory.
A punt would give Detroit a chance to score a tying touchdown, but a first down would let the Packers run out the clock.
LaFleur put the ball in Love’s hands again, and he threw a high pass that Wicks went up and caught for a 16-yard gain. The Packers ran out the clock to clinch the win.
“The difference in this game was the five fourth down plays,” Campbell said. “We miss the two we tried and they hit on all three of theirs. That’s the game right there.”
Despite going 0-for-7 in the past three games, the Lions coach doesn’t plan to change anything.
“I wouldn’t say this is going to have an effect on me,” Campbell said. “Obviously, you always want to convert when you go for it, but we’ve had a lot of conversions here.”
