Commentary

On Jan. 29, former NFL quarterback Tom Brady, right, weighed in on the Detroit Lions' NFC Championship loss to the San Francisco 49ers on Jan. 28 and called head coach Dan Campbell's, left, clock management a "flat-out error." (Cooper Neill / Getty Images ; Perry Knotts / Getty Images)

Tom Brady Weighs In on Lions' 4th Down Decisions, Blasts 'Flat-Out Error' that 'Came Back to Bite Them'

By Robert Jonathan January 30, 2024 at 3:21pm

Editor’s Note: Our readers responded strongly to this story when it originally ran; we’re reposting it here in case you missed it.

Seven-time Super Bowl champion Tom Brady is among many who have questioned the decision-making by Detroit Lions head coach Dan Campbell in the NFC championship game on Jan. 28.

The visiting Lions lost a 34-31 heartbreaker to the Brock Purdy-led San Francisco 49ers in part because Campbell controversially went for two fourth-down conversions, both of which proved unsuccessful in moving the chains to a fresh set of downs, rather than kicking field goals.

On the “Lets Go!” podcast, Brady explained, “When you’re aggressive and it doesn’t work, it comes back to bite you. It came back to bite them … Again, I would’ve taken the points,” the Bleacher Report noted.

Brady also called out Campbell for a “flat-out error” when it came to crunch-time clock management.

National Football League coaches tend to be cautious, sometimes overly or infuriatingly so, but this scenario was the opposite.

Brady, who historically has been very measured in public comments, acknowledged that the Lions, though, have played aggressively all season, but his experience indicated that the six points Campbell arguably forfeited would have made a big difference.

“I’ve been in those situations. I look at them and say, ‘Okay, this is the opportunity to continue to keep the pressure on the 49ers to make great plays, and you’re in a great position,'” Brady remarked, according to Bleacher Report.

Do you agree with Brady?

Detroit fans were thrilled when the team took a seemingly insurmountable 24-7 halftime lead, which prompted all kinds of Monday morning quarterbacking after the Lions loss, but perhaps no one has the stature or credibility of an actual championship QB like Tom Brady to weigh in.

The 49ers went on to score touchdowns on the Lions’ failed fourth-down plays in the third and fourth quarters, respectively.

Bleacher Report acknowledged that the game plan would have adjusted in ways that can never be known even if the Lions had banked the six points.

“While San Francisco would have changed its strategy if that is how things played out, it isn’t a stretch to say the visitors would be preparing for the Super Bowl with those extra points,” the sports website, however, asserted.

With that in mind, it’s reasonable to assume that two field goals (if both were made) would probably have killed the 49ers’ momentum as Tom Brady suggested.

Even if the 49ers still scored 34 points, the six-point boost would have given the Lions 37 points in total.

As alluded to above, Brady also implied that Campbell miscalculated by having to burn one of three timeouts after a run play at the 49ers’ goal line in the final minute fell short.

The Lions did score on the ensuing play, but they were unable to stop the clock even with the two timeouts left when Campbell’s team failed to recover an onside kick.

“The handoff there late in the game, that was the one I didn’t understand,” Brady said. “Unless you saw some incredible look to walk the ball in, you just can’t take the chance that you’re gonna be stopped short and keep the clock running. You just can’t get the ball back. So that was the one I just said, ‘I don’t know what they’re doing.’ I thought it was just a flat-out error.”

At the post-game news conference, the often fiery and emotional Dan Campbell said, “This may have been our only shot.”

By way of disclaimer perhaps, he added, “Do I think that? No … however, I know how hard it is to get here. … It’s gonna be twice as hard to get back to this point next year than it was this year.”

“I told those guys – this may have been our only shot… it’s gonna be twice as hard to get back to this point next year.” – Dan Campbell pic.twitter.com/MSjT1CmH02

— NFL on CBS 🏈 (@NFLonCBS) January 29, 2024

Dan Campbell also admitted, insofar as the run play at the end was concerned, that “I gambled and lost,” MLive reported.

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