Everything went wrong for the Detroit Lions on Sunday Night Football. Detroit lost 16-9 against Philadelphia in a game where the Lions' offense did not look like its usual self. In fact, Detroit's superpower of going for it on fourth down ended up costing the team multiple times during the ugly defeat.
The Lions went 0-for-5 on fourth down on Sunday, which is tied for the second-most fourth-down attempts without a conversion since at least 1991, per NFL Senior Researcher Tony Holzman-Escareno.
The only team with more failed fourth-down attempts was Dan Campbell's 2022 Lions. Detroit went 0-for-6 on fourth down against the Patriots during Week 5 of the 2022 season.
Campbell's fourth-down decisions have always been under the microscope. But now Campbell has taken over offensive play-calling duties for the rest of the season.
Campbell does not believe that his team will continue to fail on fourth down. They simply had a bad go at things on Sunday.
“I don't believe that's the norm,” Campbell said after the game, per The Athletic's Colton Pouncy. “We could not quite convert…I don't believe that's here to stay.”
It will be interesting to see if the Lions adjust their approach on fourth downs at all throughout the rest of the season.
Lions get explanation of costly DPI call vs. Eagles
But Detroit's faced more adversity on Sunday beyond their ineptitude on fourth downs.
The Lions received a controversial flag in the final minutes of the fourth quarter. Lions CB Rock Ya-Sin was flagged for pass interference on A.J. Brown on a crucial third-and-8.
If the flag was not thrown, the Lions would have forced a punt and gained a chance to score a last-minute touchdown to tie the game. Instead, the penalty effectively ended the game.
Referee Alex Kemp explained why the flag was thrown after the game.
“The official observed the receiver’s arm getting grabbed and restricting him from going up to make the catch,” Kemp said, per pool reporter Zach Berman. “So, the ball was in the air, there was a grab at the arm, restricted him, and he called defensive pass interference.”
Flag or no flag, Detroit needs to figure out what went wrong on Sunday and fix it before next week.
Next up for the Lions is a Week 12 matchup against the Giants.
