Inside Dan Campbell's decision to play starters vs. 49ers | Pro Football Talk | NFL on NBC

[@Notkimbosliced]

Every 4th down Campbell went for last night was supported by the analytics to go for it. Every one gave the Lions a better chance to win than kicking. It IS strategic. Aggression isnt the opposite of strategy

[@NotExactlyKB]

Florio consistently mischaracterizes Dan Campbell's philosophy as stubbornness, force of habit, bravado. He does it because it works. Despite what conventional football wisdom and conservative knowledge says, teams lose every week following the standard format. If the Lions played it by the book with the injuries they have this year, they would be a 11 or 12 win team. I saw a graphic last night prior to the 4th down TD to St. Brown: FG had 99% success rate, but the probability of winning the game with a FG literally didn't increase (50% to 50%). Going for it had like 40% success rate, but probability of winning the game with a TD was 22% higher.

[@df3575]

Florio's mischaracterizations here are more basic than that. He's simply lied about what Campbell said. Campbell DID explicitly say he thought about it a lot. It weighed on him. He DID have reasons besides "this is what we always do." He fkkking stated them; we had things we wanted to clean up; he had a hard time determining who would sit and who wouldn't; he didn't think it was fair to guys who didn't get enough reps. (Those last two implicitly speak to circumstances where guys can get hurt). One can disagree with all that. But florio has his hot take and insists on delivering it like some Cut-rate skip Bayless (or all of them at this point, frankly). It's stupid. And he's a lawyer who when he feels like it or suits him will parse language quite finely if not pedantically.

[@WhoDat810]

​@@df3575 Very well written and you make some great points.

[@AlwaysPlayer4]

Lions practiced all week knowing that if Packers won it was for division clinch. They didn't know it was "meaningless" untill Sunday afternoon, at that point you can't throw in backups so last second.

[@Notkimbosliced]

Exactly. This isn't Madden. You can't just throw in guys that didn't get reps all week

[@statisticallysound]

Teams literally do this every year what do you mean you can’t do it? Are the Lions so poorly coached they can’t prepare for more than one situation that every other team in the NFL can?

[@lakerskid2013]

Also considering that it was a revenge game and staying with the same record as Minnesota, that actually made the game a little bit meaningful in those regards. Now for Detroit, a win or tie wins the division and #1 seed while Minnesota has to win. That’s a little bit of an underrated aspect and while I know ties don’t happen very often, that still holds some form of value.

[@PhantasyStarved]

Florio. Stop. You've been saying the same stupid crap for weeks, now. Never once has Coach Campbell ever said, "We make our decisions based on what we always do." NOT ONCE. EVER. Stop acting like Campbell is a caveman and not thinking anything over. He has stated repeatedly why he didn't rest players. And as for fourth downs, our offense is more reliable than our defense, and 80% of the time, it works out. He does not make decisions in the vacuum of analytics, he knows his team, dude. Just stop with the nonsense.

[@drthunder57]

I like how they conveniently leave out the clip where campbell said they had prepared all week as if that game mattered and that it didn’t make sense to throw players in that were not prepared for that week. Florio is so locked in to Campbell being a caveman wrestler neanderthal that he refuses to acknowledge anything Campbell does positively.

[@dreamerrt216]

Chris Long has the best unbiased NFL content out here. The rest of these dudes are just fan boys of the team they played for and are completely incapable of analyzing other teams.

[@jimmiegriggs8624]

His coaching style has led his team this far the way you guys are talking you would think the lions are in last place

[@KCBAYBOI]

Y’all don’t follow the Lions and Dan at all apparently but talk about them everyday

[@jaytotheex1284]

"You will always be criticized by someone who's doing less"

[@MichaelKomar-o5y]

I find it funny that Florio claims Dan Campbell's best qualities are his biggest weakness. Clearly this guy was a lawyer in his past career. They are 14-2 and 8-0 on the road, but being aggressive is still going cost him? I'm sure the great Sean Payton was thrilled he went for the tie on Sunday....

[@johnhamilton8636]

Florio spouting his usual nonsense. He's determined to teach Dan Campbell how to properly coach a team that is 14-2. Plus, where does Florio find these ex-player stooges, who nod non-stop to his ridiculous speeches. Shame on you Devin McCourty!!

[@dreamerrt216]

Devin needs to get off the fence. After clearly stating Dan Campbell can't be worried with what people think, then turns around in the next breath and agrees with Mike Viking Florio that he needs to be mindful of his decisions, absolutely ridiculous!

[@erickdorsey556]

All the negative comments, give the lions fuel to play harder.

[@BParker55]

It was pointless to play starters and they're gunna pay for it. Skol

[@JohnWilliams-wz9vk]

That game was .hard knocks..ish

[@tiontaebeaugard9829]

Let's boycott these Looney Tunes😂😂😂😂😂

[@brewcrew5854]

has there ever been a reg season tie ? if the lions lost then tied the vikes next week they would file right under the "5th seed " sign-- oops! soooo....

[@tigerhoods7927]

lol it’s a reason florio will never be a coach he doesn’t understand football