Halftime analysis: Dan Campbell’s aggressiveness proves costly for Lions

ARLINGTON, Texas — Dan Campbell said just weeks after he took the job that he would be an aggressive head coach. Sean Payton taught him that. Taught him the importance of stepping on the opponent’s throat.

Now three years later, there isn’t a more aggressive head coach in the league than Dan Campbell.

Usually, that’s a good thing.

In Dallas, it cost the Lions valuable points in a game they trail 7-3 at halftime against the Cowboys.

The Lions were facing a fourth-and-goal from beyond the 4-yard line late in the first half. Every other head coach in the league would kick the field goal in that situation, especially playing on the road against a team like Dallas. But Campbell elected to go for it, finally feeling some momentum after his offense finally woke up from a half-long slumber.

But quarterback Jared Goff was under heavy duress on the play, and couldn’t find tight end Sam LaPorta working the middle of the field. The pass fell incomplete, and Detroit missed an opportunity to pull within one point in the final minutes of the half.

This is part of the package deal with that guy. He’s so good in so many ways, and this entire franchise has taken after his charisma and personality. Dan Campbell is the single biggest reason the Lions are 11-4 and have clinched a home playoff game, just two years after they finished dead last for a fourth straight season.

He’s also aggressive by nature, and it usually works. He dialed up a fake punt earlier on that critical drive, for example, and Jalen Reeves-Maybin rolled right on the direct snap before lofting a 31-yard pass to Khalil Dorsey over the top of the Cowboys. It was a terrific play design. Detroit has direct snapped to Reeves-Maybin twice before, but both plays were runs. The Lions knew Dallas would be waiting, and used that intelligence against them by hitting them over the top.

But while most of Campbell’s gambles are leveraging the odds in his favor, the odds were stacked against him on fourth-and-goal from nearly the 5-yard line against a defense that is pounding Detroit. Five of the Lions’ 34 offensive plays have been for a loss.

In a game where points have been at a premium, passing up the opportunity to put three of them on the board could prove costly.