THE Detroit Lions failed to convert a fake punt Sunday against the Minnesota Vikings, but Lions coach Dan Campbell said the failure won’t stop him from trying other fakes in the future .
“I’m disappointed it didn’t work like everyone else’s, but that’s not going to stop me from (trying them),” Campbell said Monday. “If the look is there, the look is there and we’re going to keep chasing it, keep training it and putting it on our guys.”
The Lions beat the Vikings, 31-29, on a last minute field goal from Jake Bates to move into first place in the NFC North, but they had to come out of an early 10-0 deficit to do so.
The Lions failed to pick up a first down on their first drive, then turned the ball over on downs at their own 34-yard line when Jalen Reeves-Maybin was stopped on a keeper option on a fake punt clearance.
Campbell said the Lions got the look they wanted on the play. With the ball on the left hash, they lined up the two gunners on the left of the scrum and ran wing protector Sione Vaki in an orbital move around Reeves-Maybin, their personal protector.
I love that the Lions threw a speed-option fake punt yesterday.
They actually looked like they were doing it, but they didn’t block it, which might explain why we don’t see a lot of fake punts with speed options. 53 + 44 + 13 blocks exactly one player and no one blocks 54, which blows up the game. pic.twitter.com/QGpTIMT4X0
– Bill Barnwell (@billbarnwell) October 21, 2024
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The Vikings overloaded the short side of the field, and Reeves-Maybin took a direct shot and ran to his right with Vaki trailing as the thrower. Vikings linebacker Brian Asamoah came off the edge to stop Reeves-Maybin, who never threw the ball and was tackled for a 1-yard gain.
Campbell said Reeves-Maybin should have thrown to Vaki, who could have beaten linebacker Kamu Grugier-Hill to the corner for a first down.
The Lions have been one of the NFL’s most aggressive teams with fake punts under Dan Campbell, converting 9 of 12 tries during his 3½ seasons as head coach.
They made a big conversion on a 17-yard Jack Fox pass to Sione Vaki on fourth-and-12 from their own 20 in a Week 2 loss to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, but failed on two of their three last attempts dating back to last season, when Reeves-Maybin was stopped on a straight run deep in Lions territory during a Thanksgiving loss to the Green Bay Packers.
The Packers scored a touchdown three plays later in that game, and on Sunday, the Vikings scored the game’s first touchdown two plays after Reeves-Maybin’s stop.
“The look was there, we just – there are a few things we can do a little better with,” Campbell said. “You want every single one of them to work and you believe they will work and if you don’t have the look you check it and everything is fine. So the look was there and we just tweaked a few of them things from an execution standpoint and it’s there.
Start-up money
The Lions (5-1) are tied for the second-best record in football after seven weeks, behind only the undefeated Kansas City Chiefs (6-0), and currently hold the tiebreaker advantage over the Vikings (5-1) for first place. place in the NFC North.
The Lions would be the No. 1 seed in the NFC playoffs if the playoffs started today, and while there’s still plenty of football to play, Campbell said Sunday’s win “means a lot.” for his team.
“I said it last night, I didn’t want to say it was a must win, but our guys know how important it is,” Campbell said. “And we’ve said it all the time, if you — when you talk about the end of the game and where you want to be at the end of this season, then you have to work backwards and what are the steps to get there? Man, you You have to win your division That’s where it all starts because if that’s really what we’re saying, everything has to go through Detroit, and to do that you have to win your division games and. then you get a home playoff game if not more.”
The Lions host the Tennessee Titans, one of four remaining one-win teams in the NFL, this week at Ford Field and have another big divisional road game next week against the Green Bay Packers.
Dave Birkett will sign copies of his new book, “Detroit Lions: An Illustrated Timeline” from 5:30 to 7 p.m., Tuesday at Stadium Cards & Comics in Ypsilanti. Order your copy here.
Contact Dave Birkett at [email protected]. Follow him on X and Instagram at @davebirkett.
This article was originally published on Detroit Free Press: Will the Lions be deterred by a failed fake punt? Dan Campbell says no
