DETROIT — Dan Campbell did not bat a watch.
Facing fourth-and-inches from Green Bay’s 21-yard line with 43 seconds left and the rating tied at 31, the Detroit Lions head coach determined to go for it.
The gamble paid off, as Lions operating again David Montgomery plowed up the sphere for 7 yards. The conversion helped arrange a walk-off kick for Jake Bates, who nailed a 35-yard subject purpose as time expired to present Detroit a 34-31 win towards the Packers on Thursday. With the victory, the Lions additionally clinched a playoff spot for the second consecutive season, which hasn’t occurred in Detroit since 1994-95.
“I simply felt like we would have liked to finish it on offense,” Campbell mentioned. “I didn’t wish to give that ball again, and I believed we may get that, and I believed we may convert. I trusted that O-Line and I trusted David, they usually got here by means of for us.
“It’s a hell of a name by Ben,” he mentioned, referring to offensive coordinator Ben Johnson. “I knew how I needed to play this recreation. The group knew it, and the whole lot in me instructed me let’s end this, and we did.”
For Bates, who was named NFC Special Teams Player of the Month for November, it was his third game-winning kick of the season. His others got here on a 52-yard boot in Houston in Week 10 and a 44-yard subject purpose in Week 7 at Minnesota.
But Bates remained even-keeled after Thursday evening’s win, even with the Lions using an 11-game successful streak, which is the franchise’s longest.
“I’m attempting to remain as leveled as I can and simply be the identical particular person day by day. Fipp likes to say, ‘Never journey the curler coaster,'” Bates mentioned, referring to Lions particular groups coordinator Dave Fipp. “So, not using the highs, not using the lows, and simply staying proper right here.”
The Lions had 4 fourth-down conversions towards Green Bay, their most in a recreation this season and tied for his or her most in a contest up to now 40 seasons, in line with ESPN Research.
They turned the second group over the previous 45 seasons to go for it on fourth down contained in the opposing group’s 25-yard line with the rating tied within the remaining minute, in line with Elias Sports Bureau. The Cincinnati Bengals additionally did it in Week 17 of the 2021 season towards the Kansas City Chiefs, choosing up the primary down on a defensive penalty and in the end kicked a game-winning subject purpose.
Lions huge receiver Amon-Ra St. Brown lauded Campbell’s supreme confidence in these moments.
“We knew we had been gonna go for it on fourth down all recreation,” St. Brown mentioned. “That was the plan, however I did not know we had been gonna go for it on the finish there. It type of shocked me, too. But like I mentioned, we’re used to it now. If he says go for it, we’re all-in. I wasn’t in on that play the place they received it, however I used to be assured within the guys on the sphere.”
Detroit has secured a 12-win season for simply the third time in franchise historical past, becoming a member of the 1991 and 2023 squads. But even with a 6-1 report of their previous seven video games towards Green Bay, Campbell mentioned he respects how aggressive the NFC North is because the Lions push for an opportunity to earn the convention’s No. 1 seed.
“Our division is rattling good,” Campbell mentioned. “I imply, it is actually good. It’s the perfect division in soccer for my part. We’ve received top-tier expertise, we have top-tier teaching and gamers and the entire deal. The competitors is absolutely elite. So I believe that is simply another excuse why you have to do no matter it takes to win this division, as a result of in case you do and also you’re in a position to play at residence, it is gonna go a great distance with the groups that we’ve got.”
