At the end of the game, the Lions had a 4th and two, at the LAC 26. Kicking a 43 yard field goal there would have put them in the lead, and probably would have been what most coaches would have done.
Campbell opted to go for it, and they gained 6 yards and a first down. If you’re Riley Patterson, it would be natural to be feeling like they went for it to avoid putting the game in your hands, or because they wanted to get the ball closer to make the kick easier.
But then, instead of running the ball up the middle (again, like most coaches would have done), they went three straight kneel downs. This actually lost them yards, and put Patterson into the position of kicking a clutch 40 yd game-winning field goal with time expiring. A 40-yard field goal isn’t exactly a record-breaking kick, but it’s not a chip shot either.
It’s also not much different from a 43 yard field goal. You could make the argument that Campbell’s decision actually went and made the kick harder for Patterson. But by kneeling the ball down (and going backwards) three straight times, he sent a message. He was saying “this isn’t about you. I completely trust you to make this kick. Be the hero and win this game for us.”
There’s no question that fans don’t have a ton of trust in Patterson, and for young guy, it would be very easy for him to start doubting himself, too.
But Campbell never did. He had faith in Patterson, and coached like it. And Patterson nailed the kick.
A+ coaching
I think it’s more “our defense can’t stop anything tonight” and less “I don’t want Patterson kicking a 43 yarder”
Giving Herbert the ball down 3 against last night’s defense and 1:30 left to work with is significantly worse than not giving it back to him at all
And a timeout to boot.
Dan called an excellent game last night and I agreed with all of his decisions to go for it (even if we hadn’t converted). There is 0 doubt in my mind that any other coach the Lions have had in our history would’ve lost that game given the same scenario. First of all, we would’ve lost the lead earlier in the game because we wouldn’t have been as aggressive and we would’ve settled for a field goal earlier, and two, I guarantee any other SOL coach would’ve handed the ball back to Herbert with a minute and a half left and predictably given that win away. Dan deserves big time praise for the win last night (and AG none) because we simply would’ve lost had he not made all of those calls.
Patterson is building trust.
I think it was more about running out the clock
I agree with you. The Charges offense was clicking for most of the 2nd half and the Lions defense wasn’t getting the job done, so Campbell and Johnson called a 2 minute offense to run out the clock and kick the go-ahead field goal to win it in regulation. That 4th down call was very gutsy. It was good to see Patterson making the kick to win the game, that may have been a minor factor, but I don’t think it was entirely about building confidence in the kicker.
I think the 3 kneel downs show a ton a faith in Patterson. Running up with gut with Monty is a low risk play and could have made an even shorter FG.
However, Campbell basically said I have more faith in Patterson making this kick than a weird fluke happening on offense.
But OP wrote some nice fanfiction.
I liked the idea of kneeling it down personally, as LAC almost certainly would’ve let Jahmyr or Monty run into the end zone to get the ball back
Kneel out was the safer play
I’d like to think our Running Backs would have been more intelligent than to run it in.
His post game interview was so odd. He was talking like he wasn’t on the team but just subbing in or something, anyone else notice that? Hopefully this game makes him feel more like a lion!
Related: I thought you couldn’t leap over your defenders to block a FG? Derwin James does just that on Patt’s kick. Romo even talks about how athletic he is immediately after.
This subs obsession with Riley has never made sense to me.
He’s one of the best kickers in the league inside 50 yards. He’s incredibly accurate. He just doesn’t have the distance as seen from others, but this isn’t nearly as bad a thing as you’d expect.
Theres been 143 attempted kicks outside 50 and beyond, 100 have been made. Making an expected points for those kicks at ~2.1.
The thing is, you have to then subtract the lost points from giving the ball up at mid-field. The expected points delta vs. a standard touch back is about 1.5. Meaning you’re only expected to net .6 points per 50+ yrs FG kicked.
If you assume the average kicker will make nine 50+ yard attempts this season, that means it will be worth a total of 5.4 points.
The thing is, Riley makes up for this by being more accurate inside of 50 and not missing extra points.
The entire Lions team runs off efficiency and predictability. It’s why ARSB, Renyolds and LaPorta work, and why Jamo, struggles. Trotting Riley out there knowing it’s damn near automatic (at a range) is a good thing.
I have a lot of faith in Patterson under 50. I don’t have faith in Patterson over 50.
Had more about running out the clock. If the just take the FG, how much faith do you have that Herbert just doesn’t go down and score a TD and Chargers win?
Campbell went for the throat.
If you’re Riley Patterson, it would be natural to be feeling like they went for it to avoid putting the game in your hands, or because they wanted to get the ball closer to make the kick easier.
After watching our defense give up 5 straight long TD drives, I think Patterson probably fully understood the situation and wouldn’t view going for it on 4th and 2 as a sign of lack of confidence in him. However, it is a sign of a huge lack of confidence in our defense.
Campbell made the right call, IMHO. If we had made the kick with 1:47 left we probably would have lost the game.
I think you’re over-thinking this.
Patterson is here because he doesn’t miss extra points and he’s practically automatic at 40 yards. He doesn’t have a big leg but he does have a very ACCURATE leg. In his 3rd pro season now he’s 80 for 81 on extra points and 37 for 39 inside the 40. His 87.5% field goal percentage would put him in 5th place on the ALL-TIME list but the list is based on a minimum of 100 field goals attempted. Riley is 56 of 64 for his career. The Lions have faith in Patterson for a VERY clear reason. Many people just haven’t noticed how accurate the kid actually is.