Dan Campbell explains why the Lions didn't accept the penalty at the end of the first half and give Jake Bates a shot at a record long kick
The Detroit Lions got a big win over the Seattle Seahawks on Monday night and you couldn't have asked for a better offensive or special teams game for this team. Everything seemed to go their way. Still, there was a question of why the Lions didn't accept a face mask penalty at the end of […]
The Detroit Lions got a big win over the Seattle Seahawks on Monday night and you couldn't have asked for a better offensive or special teams game for this team. Everything seemed to go their way.
Still, there was a question of why the Lions didn't accept a face mask penalty at the end of the first half and let Jake Bates try to kick a long one. Lions head coach Dan Campbell explained why on Tuesday.
“Yeah, was trying to get him there, I was. We could’ve gotten three more yards. That’s probably a little much. If I thought we could’ve gotten to the minus-45, it might’ve been worth it just to see him swing at one. But yeah, I would’ve liked to see that too. I told (Lions Special Teams Coordinator Dave) Fipp today, I was like, ‘Man, it would’ve been nice just to get in – just to let him swing at one.’ But we couldn’t quite get there. Yeah, it was just too far. And I think even there, man, he’s – yeah, it was too far for a Hail Mary and even there, if it’s a little low, that thing gets blocked and that’s too much of a risk.”
Hard to argue with Campbell's approach there. It would have been a 73-yard try for Bates had they accepted the penalty and gave it a shot. There's the block, but even if the block doesn't happen and it's short, the Seahawks likely would have had a man back there to return and that's another avenue for something to crazy to happen.
Bates might have the leg to get it done. He nailed a 70-yarder in practice for the Michigan Panthers this past spring.
There's a big difference between kicking against air in a no pressure situation and kicking against a special teams unit during a game. I would have loved to see Bates try for it too, but Campbell is right. The risk is too high, even for a guy that loves the risk.
Detroit Lions Mailbag: Is Jared Goff about to be more mobile in 2024?
Welcome to another Detroit Lions Mailbag. It's bye week time and that means we sadly don't get to watch Lions football this week. At least there's the Tigers. We got a lot of questions. Let's jump into them. Goff does seem like he's a little more mobile out there doesn't he? I know he did […]
