Dan Campbell Would Run Same Play on Debated Third Down

The Detroit Lions were driving down the field and in a position to add to their 7-3 lead over the Washington Commanders.

Inside the Commanders' 20-yard line, the Lions looked poised to increase their advantage and put major pressure on their opponent.

Then, with one play, the tides of the game turned completely.

Facing a third-and-1 from the Commanders' 17-yard line, the Lions elected to call a play based out of an empty formation. This took away any threat of a run play as well as took away the chance for a running back to pick up a blitzer in pass protection.

Several factors went against the Lions' plan, and as a result the play was doomed. Wide receiver Amon-Ra St. Brown, who was the primary receiver on the play, slipped coming off the line. Meanwhile, left guard Graham Glasgow was beat by Commanders defender Dorance Armstrong.

Forced to step up at the end of his dropback, quarterback Jared Goff was sacked and lost the ball. The Commanders recovered the fumble, ending the Lions' scoring threat and setting off a run of 14 unanswered points to change the Lions' fate.

Looking back on the play specifically, Dan Campbell explained what went wrong and why the Lions went the way they did. He explained that if Detroit faced that situation again, he would elect to do the same thing.

"We were ready to go for it on fourth, so we'd run it on fourth if it didn't take place. We liked the matchup with Saint on Wagner, and it's a play we've run, man I don't know, 50 times this year or something. It just didn't work out," Campbell said. "It was the perfect storm. Just a little bit of a slip, Goff has to choke the ball, he moves up, we get beat. It's not a seven-step, it's a three-step, so it happened fast and then bop-bop, disaster."

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The decision to throw in that situation, and the eventual outcome, has left fans and analysts perplexed as to why the Lions went away from their run game. The Lions believed they had a favorable matchup on the outside but were unable to take advantage.

Now, the team and fan base are left stinging after a crushing loss.

"I don't worry about that, I'm not second-guessing that," Campbell continued. "If I had to do it over again, I'd do the same thing. I know that's a hard pill to swallow. It just didn't work out for us."