Will Detroit Lions be deterred by failed fake punt vs Vikings? Not on Dan Campbell's watch
The Detroit Lions failed to convert a fake punt Sunday against the Minnesota Vikings, but Lions coach Dan Campbell said the miss won't prevent him trying more fakes in the future.
"I’m disappointed that it didn’t work just like anybody is, but that’s not going to deter me from (trying them)," Campbell said Monday. "If the look’s there, the look’s there and we’re going to keep looking for it and keep coaching it and put it on our guys."
The Lions beat the Vikings, 31-29, on a last-minute field goal by Jake Bates to move into a first-place tie in the NFC North, but they had to dig out of an early 10-0 deficit to do so.
The Lions failed to pick up a first down on their opening drive, then turned the ball over on downs at their own 34-yard line when Jalen Reeves-Maybin was stopped on an option keeper on a fake punt.
Campbell said the Lions got the look they wanted on the play. With the ball on the left hash, they lined both gunners up to the left of scrimmage and ran wing protector Sione Vaki in an orbit motion around Reeves-Maybin, their personal protector.
Love that the Lions ran a speed option fake punt yesterday.
They actually had the look to do it, but they didn't block it up, which might be why we don't see a lot of speed option fake punts. 53 + 44 + 13 block exactly one player and nobody blocks 54, which blows up the play. 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 snap and ran to his right with Vaki trailing as the pitch man. Vikings linebacker Brian Asamoah came off the edge to stop Reeves-Maybin, who never pitched the ball and was tackled for a 1-yard gain.
Campbell said Reeves-Maybin should have pitched to Vaki, who might have been able to beat linebacker Kamu Grugier-Hill around the corner for a first down.
The Lions have been one of the most aggressive teams in the NFL with fake punts under Dan Campbell, converting 9 of 12 tries in his 3½ seasons as head coach.
They had 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 have failed on two of their past three attempts dating back to last season, when Reeves-Maybin was stopped on a direct-snap run deep in Lions territory in 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 was stopped.
"The look was there, we just – there’s a couple things we can do a little bit better with it," Campbell said. "You want every one of them to work and you believe they’ll work and if you don’t have the look, you check out of it and it’s all good. So the look was there and we just, we tweak a couple of things execution wise and it’s there."
Seed 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 edge over the Vikings (5-1) for first place in the NFC North.
The Lions would be the No. 1 seed in the NFC playoffs if the postseason started today, and while there's a ton of football still to be played, Campbell said Sunday's win "meant a lot" for his team.
"I said this last night, I didn’t want to call it a must-win but our guys know how important it is," Campbell said. "And we said it all the time, if you – when you talk about the end game and where you want to be at the end of this season, then you got to work backwards and what are the steps to get there? Man, you got to win your division. That’s where it starts cause if that’s really what we’re saying, everything needs to run through Detroit, and to do that you got to win your division games. And then you get a home game in the playoffs, if not more."
The Lions host the Tennessee Titans, one of four one-win teams left in the NFL, this week at Ford Field and have another big division road game on tap the next week against the Green Bay Packers.
Dave Birkett will sign copies of his new book, "Detroit Lions: An Illustrated Timeline" from 5:30-7 p.m., Tuesday at Stadium Cards & Comics in Ypsilanti. Order your copy here.
Contact Dave Birkett at dbirkett@freepress.com. Follow him on X and Instagram at @davebirkett.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Will Lions be deterred by failed fake punt? Dan Campbell says heck no
