After 30 minutes in Sunday’s NFC Championship game, the Detroit Lions led the San Francisco 49ers 24-7, and it appeared that they were on their way to Super Bowl 58 in Las Vegas.
However, in life and the NFL, it’s not how you start but how you finish, and the 49ers ripped off 27 straight points and ultimately held on to defeat the Lions 34-31.
This game could have easily gone the other way. Detroit had opportunities to add points in the second half. In the third quarter, after the 49ers kicked a field goal to make the score 24-10, the Lions drove the ball to the 49ers’ 28-yard line and had a 4th and 2. Instead of kicking a field goal, Dan Campbell and the Lions decided to go for it, but they could not convert after a drop from wide receiver Josh Reynolds.
Midway through the fourth quarter, and the Lions trailing 27-24, Detroit had an opportunity to tie the game after driving the ball to San Francisco’s 30-yard line, and again on 4th and 3, Campbell decided to go for it, and just like in the third, the Lions failed to convert.
Those two decisions came back to haunt the Lions, but this is what the Lions have done all year long. After the game, Campbell had no regrets.
“I just felt really good about us converting and getting our momentum and not letting them play long ball,’ he said. “They were bleeding the clock out. That’s what they do. And I wanted to get the upper hand back. And it’s easy hindsight, and I get it. I get that. But I don’t regret those decisions. And that’s hard. It’s hard because we didn’t come through. It wasn’t able to work out, but I don’t, I don’t. And I understand the scrutiny I’ll get. That’s part of the gig, man. But just didn’t work out.”
There’s aggressive, and there’s too aggressive, and Campbell was too aggressive on Sunday. Extremes in life and football never work, and Campbell was too extreme on Sunday. It took 30 years for the Lions to get to this point, and based on how things are going, they’ll probably get back sooner than that.
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