Tom Brady is arguably the greatest NFL player of all time when it comes to understanding what it takes to win a Super Bowl, therefore his opinions are important when assessing some of the choices made by Detroit Lions head coach Dan Campbell.
During a visit on his Let’s Go! podcast, Brady spoke on Detroit’s 34-31 loss to the San Francisco 49ers in Sunday’s NFC Championship Game. He said,
“They’ve been aggressive all year,” “You know obviously, when you’re aggressive and it doesn’t work, it comes back to bite you. It came back to bite them yesterday. Again, I would’ve taken the points.
“I’ve been in those situations. I look at them and say, okay, this is the opportunity to continue to keep the pressure on the 49ers to make great plays and you’re in a great position.”
In the third quarter, with a 14-point lead, Detroit went for 4th-and-2 from San Francisco’s 28-yard line; in the fourth quarter, trailing by three, Detroit opted for 4th-and-3 from San Francisco’s 30-yard line.
After failing on both attempts, the 49ers scored touchdowns in their subsequent drives.
The Lions would have appreciated the six points that would have resulted from two successful field goals under those circumstances, especially since the final deficit was only three points. If that’s how things ended up working out, San Francisco would have adjusted its game plan, but it’s safe to assume the visitors would be getting ready for the Super Bowl with those extra points.
Tom Brady Speaks About How Lions Failed to Recover
In the last two minutes, there was another instance that caught my attention. With three timeouts remaining, the Lions were down 10 but still at the 49ers’ 1-yard line. After David Montgomery failed to score, they chose to run the ball and then called a timeout.
Even though Detroit finally scored a touchdown, the game was effectively finished when it failed to recover the subsequent onside kick due to the timeout call. Brady said,
“The handoff there late in the game, that was the one I didn’t understand,” “Unless you saw some incredible look to walk the ball in, you just can’t take the chance that you’re gonna be stopped short and keep the clock running. You just can’t get the ball back. So that was the one I just said, ‘I don’t know what they’re doing.’ I thought it was just a flat-out error.”
After building a 24-7 lead at halftime and watching it evaporate after the break, the Lions and their supporters will be reflecting on what might have been during the offseason.
San Francisco will now play the Kansas City Chiefs in the Super Bowl with the chance to win.