Mike Tomlin has no qualms about a decision by Dan Campbell that may have seemed curious on the surface. Facing fourth and one of Detroit’s 24-yard line with 4:53 left, Campbell opted to go for it. The play resulted in a loss of two yards and a very short field for the Packers. “I thought we were going to get it, number one,” Campbell said after the game. “I really believed we would get that. Number two, I knew we would get the ball back if it didn’t work out. Those were the two thoughts.” After Sunday night’s Chiefs-Seahawks game, NBC’s Mike Tirico asked Tomlin for his thoughts on Campbell’s decision. “It focuses on elite quarterback play,” Tomlin said. “When you have an elite quarterback game, and particularly when you’re playing an elite quarterback game, you want to make sure that your guy at least has a chance to have the ball at the end of the game. And that’s what that decision is about for me. If he kicks that ball the way Jordan Love and company have been operating, it’s not possible, they’re probably going to put the ball down the field and win the game. And what he did by trying that, was: He would be successful and he would keep the ball. for his quarterback, or at least he would give his quarterback a chance to respond. I was always ready to make that decision when I had Big Ben. [Roethlisberger]for example, and I was facing another elite quarterback.” The Lions got the ball back because their defense stiffened, forcing a field goal attempt. And because Detroit’s special teams unit blocked the 35-yard attempt. But even if the Packers had scored a touchdown, the drive started with 4:50 left. The Lions would have had a chance to respond. And that’s only if the Lions first failed to gain a yard on fourth down by handing it off to Jahmyr Gibbs. It’s another tangible example of the key differences between analytics and feel. The coach, all things considered, knew it was the right decision. That said, the age of analytics had made it much easier to do something that would have previously been ignored as unconventional, as the reliance on math has broken down the wall between what is and what isn’t “normal” for a coach. And Tomlin’s past actions give his words even more credence. fourth down inside their own 25 in a tied game since Week 1 of the 2014 season. That day, Tomlin’s Steelers ran a fake punt from their own 20 in a 27-27 game against the Browns. It happened with 9:48 left in a 27-27 game. The play worked, the drive was stopped later at the 50 and the Steelers won with a field goal. 30-27.
