Allen Park — The Detroit Lions became the first team in NFL history to attempt and fail on six or more fourth-down attempts in a single game on Sunday, but coach Dan Campbell doesn’t have any regrets about any of those decisions.
“I don’t,” Campbell said. “Look, I wanted to be patient in that game, but I also know this, shoot man, the first fourth-and-1, that was less than half a yard, and we’re running behind (Penei) Sewell and it was (guard) Logan (Stenberg). And we’re giving it to Jamaal (Williams). I didn’t second-guess that one bit, I would take that every day of the week, and we got stuffed on it. And then, just knowing where we’re at on the other fourth downs, where it was playing out, I feel like that’s what we needed to do.
Getting stopped on the first one gave the Patriots possession in Lions territory, and they were able to translate that field position into three points.
Detroit’s second failed fourth down was more controversial, since the Lions opted to go for it on fourth-and-9, instead of kicking a 50-yard field goal while down six points. Campbell reiterated his explanation after the game, about not having confidence in kicker Michael Badgley’s range from that spot, particularly with the wind blowing in from the tunnel at that end of the stadium.
The remaining four fourth-down failures were necessitated by situation, with the Lions falling further and further behind, and needing touchdowns, not field goals as the clock dwindled. Plus, the coach has inherently more confidence in the team’s offense at this stage of the season, especially after converting six of eight fourth downs coming into the Patriots matchup.
“I think that a lot of it is probably where I feel like the strength of our team is,” Campbell said. “Yes, I’m a little more aggressive by nature, but also, those fourth-and-1s, I trust our offensive line and Jamaal, not that you’re always going to run it or hand it to him, (but) it’s hard not to.”
Navigating a delicate situation
The challenge with benching a veteran, particularly one in the midst of playing for his next contract, is that you risk permanently fracturing the relationship by the decision. But Campbell remains confident cornerback Amani Oruwariye can handle this recent setback, after being scratched from the lineup in favor of Will Harris on Sunday.
“We needed to shake things up, but just like I told him, this doesn’t mean this is over,” Campbell said. “We’re not just discarding Amani. I mean, he’s going to have a shot. And he asked that last week, ‘Will I have a shot, even if it doesn’t pertain to injury, and the answer is yes. (If) he goes out there and practices and proves it, then absolutely, he’ll get an opportunity to go back out there and win that job.
“Amani’s a pro. He’s a pro.”
Oruwariye has played a lot of meaningful football for the Lions, including 32 starts in the past three seasons. And he often thrived, holding opposing quarterbacks to a sub-60 completion percentage each of the past two years, while finishing third in the NFL in interceptions in 2021.
But that completion percentage has been well north of 70 this year, so Campbell felt compelled to make that swap, as well as two others in the secondary, benching both safety DeShon Elliott and nickel cornerback Mike Hughes in favor of Saivion Smith and A.J. Parker, who were both on the practice squad prior to last weekend’s game.
With where we were at, I mean we were last in the league by a long shot and we felt like the majority of the issues that were popping up were on the back end,” Campbell said.
Changing of the guard
The Lions made a surprising decision to start Logan Stenberg at right guard against the Patriots, but the reinsertion into the lineup lasted one half before he was replaced by Evan Brown.
Given Brown was battling an ankle injury coming into the game, it was unclear whether the halftime change was pre-planned or performance-based. Campbell confirmed Monday it was the latter.
“We just felt like physically, Logan was going to give us our best shot early,” Campbell said. “And really, Evan was going to be more ‘if needed,’ reserved, man, if something happens injury-related. But (Stenberg) kind of forced our hand once we got a (missed assignment) early. We just felt like we needed to go with Evan.”
It wasn’t a banner day for Detroit’s offensive line, which played a key role in quarterback Jared Goff facing pressure on a season-high 16 of his 39 drop backs.
Return man waived
The Lions waived wide receiver and return man Maurice Alexander on Monday, a day after he provided the team with a 47-yard kickoff return.
The team is expecting to be closer to full strength at receiver following the bye with Amon-Ra St. Brown, DJ Chark and Josh Reynolds getting some extra time to heal their injured ankles. When all three are healthy, Alexander would be the No. 6 receiving option on the depth chart, also behind Kalif Raymond and Tom Kennedy, who are also capable of handling kickoffs and punts.
jdrogers@detroitnews.com
Twitter: @Justin_Rogers