49ers’ Kyle Shanahan wasn’t shocked by Dan Campbell’s aggressive playcalling

SANTA CLARA — Detroit Lions fans on social media, and probably those at the Ford Field watch party, were stunned at Dan Campbell’s decision to opt for attempting a 4th-down conversion instead of a field goal not once, but twice during Sunday’s NFC Championship game against the San Francisco 49ers.

Kyle Shanahan wasn’t shocked, however. In fact, in the week leading up to the game, he was prepared for it.

“I think that’s how they’ve done it most of the year,” Shanahan said. “I think that’s one of the reasons why they were here. I mean, you win a lot of games making some of those decisions. You make some decisions and you lose ‘em. I don’t think it always comes down to that. There’s a lot of plays that happen in the game. That’s a decision we all have to make.”

With 7:03 left in the third quarter, the Lions faced a crucial 4th-and-2 on San Francisco’s 28-yard line. Opting to go for it instead of a 45-yard field goal attempt, Lions quarterback Jared Goff targeted Josh Reynolds, but the pass was dropped. A successful field goal would have given the Lions a 27-10 lead. The 49ers responded on the next drive with a touchdown.

RELATED: Dan Campbell doesn’t regret fourth-down decisions in Lions’ stunning collapse

In the fourth quarter, trailing 27-24 with 7:38 left, the Lions faced another 4th-and-2 on San Francisco’s 30-yard line. Choosing to go for it again, Goff failed to connect with Amon-Ra St. Brown. If the Lions opted to kick in this situation, it would have been a 47-yarder.

“That definitely bit ‘em in the butt,” 49ers defensive lineman Nick Bosa told a reporter after the game. “I feel like going for it on 4th down a lot will come back to bite you.”

Heading into this game, the Lions were 18-for-21 (86%) on 4th-and-3 or less while in their opponents’ territory. With this in mind, it’s understandable why Campbell opted to trust Goff to make a play in this situation as opposed to kicking a field goal.

The other reason centers around Lions kicker Michael Badgley. From 20-39 yards, Badgley is 56-for-58 (96.5%), which is essentially as automatic as one can be. It’s safe to say this played a factor in Campbell opting to kick the 21-yarder at the end of the first half as opposed to going for it on 4th-and-3 on San Francisco’s three-yard line.

However, when it comes to kicks from 40-49 yards, Badgley is 37-for-48 (77%) for his career. To take it a step further, Badgley is 5-for-13 (38%) on kicks 50+ yards. Simply put, the data supports Campbell electing to go for it in 4th-and-short situations as opposed to kicking a field goal.

“I mean, you live and die with that stuff,” Shanahan said. “It would have been really hard to deal with if they moved the chains on that 4th and 2 also, so…That’s why everything comes down to certain plays. What happens in those plays, you got to live with.”