Detroit Lions’ Dan Campbell on fake punt: ‘I shouldn’t have done that to those guys
Dan Campbell rolled the dice, and the Detroit Lions crapped out.
Campbell said he was to blame for a fake punt the Lions failed to convert in the third quarter of Thursday’s 29-22 Thanksgiving loss to the Green Bay Packers.
Jalen Reeves-Maybin was stopped for no gain on a direct snap to the personal protector, and the Packers scored three plays later to take a 15-point lead.
“Yeah, look, that’s a bad call on me,” Campbell said. “That’s a bad call. I shouldn’t have done that to those guys. That’s a bad call.”
The Lions faced a fourth-and-4 from their own 23-yard line when they ran the fake with 5:32 left in the third quarter, a situation similar to one they converted in the first quarter of their Week 1 upset of the Kansas City Chiefs.
Reeves-Maybin ran for 3 yards on fourth-and-2 from the Lions’ 17-yard line on that play, and the Lions drove the length of the field for the game’s first touchdown.
Asked if the punt team had the right look to run the fake Thursday — the Packers had five players spread across the front line of their punt rush unit, including one outside each of the Lions’ wing protectors, and three defenders behind them in off-ball linebacker roles — Campbell said only the call was his fault.
