For Dan Campbell, aggressive fourth-down calls have been a signature of his coaching identity. But after going 0-for-7 in their last two losses, that signature is starting to look like a liability. The Lions vs Packers game made that crystal clear for head coach Dan Campbell. The team pushes hard, but their opponents sniffed out every move.

“In football, unpredictability matters,” Mike Florio of PFT noted. “And the Lions — who are 0-7 on fourth down in their last two losses — have possibly become too predictable in their willingness to roll the dice.”

In the Thanksgiving showdown, Green Bay crushed Detroit 31-24. Campbell’s overconfidence in going for it on the 4th down led to two failed tries in the second half. In their fixture, this glaring issue of being too predictable stood out boldly. The Green and Gold, on the other hand, nailed all three of their fourth-down attempts. 

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The Lions marched with grit. They ground downfield to fourth-and-3. Instead of punting, Campbell decided to go for it with a run by Jahmyr Gibbs. The Packers’ defense stuffed him for a two-yard loss. From there, the Packers took over, and two plays later, Jordan Love threw a 51-yard touchdown to Christian Watson.

Later, Lions fought back from Green Bay’s 21-yard line, trailing by 10 with 10:55 left. Fourth-and-3 again. Jared Goff rolled right to escape pressure and threw to Jameson Williams, who was wide open down the sideline. Williams got both hands on the ball but dropped it. 

Campbell’s confidence, or, arguably, his overconfidence, had him line up to go for it every time. The Lions snapped the ball, but fell short. Yet quarterback Goff knows he can nail it better.

Jared Goff takes the blame for the drop

On that crucial throw to Williams that slipped through his hands, Goff took full responsibility.

“I gotta connect with Jamo [Jameson Williams] there. I’ve gotta give him a better throw,” Nolan Bianchi reported on X. “He might score right there, and then the drive will be over.”

The game wasn’t that bad on paper. Goff went 20-of-26 for 256 yards and two TDs. Williams snagged seven for 144 yards and one touchdown. That fourth-down bomb could’ve flipped the script, but the drive died instead.

Looking back at this, Campbell, in the spirit of Thanksgiving, defended his squad for their mistakes.

“It’s frustrating, I know. We’ve got a lot to be thankful for even after a loss,” Coach Campbell said. “So, all we’ve got to do is worry about cleaning up this and then getting to the next game and finding a way to win the next one in front of us.”

Currently, snagging the next would feel huge for Campbell and co. as the NFC North has two teams other than the Lions fighting for the playoff run. The Bears are 9-3, first in the division, the Packers stand at 8-3-1, ahead of the Lions at 7-5. Up next, Detroit will host the Cowboys at Ford Field. With their current playoff probability at 43%, they’ll surely want to make the most of their home advantage.