‘We’re behind him’: Lions defend Dan Campbell’s fourth-down decisions in loss to 49ers

Santa Clara, Calif. — Since joining the Detroit Lions, David Montgomery would probably need two hands to count the number of times he was asked after a game about the aggressiveness of his head coach, Dan Campbell.

It was the same story Sunday night at Levi’s Stadium. But this time, he was defending decisions gone wrong. The Lions twice passed on second-half field goals, in favor of trying to keep a drive alive on fourth-and-short, but both times, poor execution resulted in turning the ball over. 

“Like I say every time I get asked that question, Dan is the best coach in the league,” Montgomery said. “Every call that he makes, we trust and we’re behind him. Every call that he’s made is the right call.”

The first came on a fourth-and-2 halfway through the second quarter, with the Lions nursing a 24-10 lead after the 49ers added a field goal to start the third quarter. Lions quarterback Jared Goff took the shotgun snap, avoided pressure and fired a low pass to the typically sure-handed Josh Reynolds that was plainly dropped.

The other came on fourth-and-3 with 7:38 to go in the third, after the 49ers had taken their first lead of the game, 27-24, marking the first time Detroit had trailed during the playoffs. Goff was pressured, rolled to his right and couldn’t get off an accurate pass, as his throw fell to the ground harmlessly in no-man’s-land. 

Reynolds agreed they were correct decisions, citing poor execution as the reason the plays failed. 

“He called it because he fully expected us to get it. So did we, but, execution (failed),” Reynolds said. “You don’t wanna lose. And losing to go to the Super Bowl, I mean, it makes it that much worse.”

During the regular season, the Lions went for it on fourth-and-less-than-3 on 21 occasions and converted 16 of them (76.1%). Detroit kicker Michael Badgley, who was on the team’s practice squad for a majority of the year, until the Lions decided to part ways with Riley Patterson after Week 14, had not attempted a kick outdoors this season. 

Of the decisions, Goff said, “I loved them … we didn’t connect. I’ll throw a better ball next time.”

Including playoffs, Reynolds caught 47 of 74 passes thrown his way in 2023 and entered Sunday with just three drops all season. 

“Josh is a stud. … He made a mistake,” Goff said. “We made plenty of mistakes out there. I missed throws, I took sacks. He made mistakes and it happens. He’s an absolute stud.”

nbianchi@detroitnews.com

@nolanbianchi