FIRST DOWN: FOURTH-DOWN CALLS

There may not be another head coach on the planet who would go for it on 4^th & 1 with 43 seconds left in a tie game at the opponent’s 21-yard line instead of attempting a field goal to take the lead, but that’s what Detroit Lions head coach Dan Campbell did Thursday night.

“I just felt like we needed to end it on offense,” Campbell said. “I did not want to give that ball back and I believed we could get that. I believed we could convert, and I trust that O-Line, I trust David (Montgomery), and they came through for us.

“It’s a hell of a call by (offensive coordinator) Ben (Johnson). I knew how I wanted to play this game, the team knew it, and everything in me told me, ‘Let’s finish this,’ and so we did.”

David Montgomery was able to pick up the first down, despite quarterback Jared Goff tripping while handing him the football, and it set up Jake Bates‘ 35-yard walk-off field goal for a 34-31 win to give the Lions their 11th straight win, a 12-1 record and a playoff berth.

The Lions converted four of their five fourth downs in the game, including two 4th & goals from the 2 and 3-yard lines, respectively. Wide receiver Tim Patrick and running back Jahmyr Gibbs were on the receiving end of those critical conversions.

“We came into this game knowing we were going to do it a little bit more than usual,” Goff said after the game of going for it on fourth down. “Dan had mentioned that early in the week. He was really going to lean on our offense to make some things happen and be aggressive on fourth down if the opportunity presented itself.”

It certainly did. The only one the Lions didn’t convert was a 4th & 1 on their own 31 where Gibbs was stopped for a 1-yard loss.

The Lions are now 15-of-22 converting on fourth down this season.