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The Detroit Lions have cultivated an identity over head coach Dan Campbell's two-and-a-half seasons in charge. This is a team that will not shy away from earning the hard yards and making the tough calls -- specifically, on fourth down, when the pressure is highest and defenses are desperate to get off the field.
Detroit's offense was at its aggressive and explosive best on Sunday, as the Lions outgunned the Los Angeles Chargers in a last-second 41-38 win at SoFi Stadium. The NFC North leaders responded in kind to the Minnesota Vikings' win over the New Orleans Saints -- and did it their way, which fired up quarterback Jared Goff.
Goff and the Detroit offense empowered
Speaking to CBS reporter Tracy Wolfson after the game, Goff came up with the best way possible to describe the energy and culture that Campbell has instilled in Detroit.
"Ballsy," Goff said. "I don't know if I can say that, but ballsy. We love when he puts us in those positions to make those plays, and he's got balls of steel. Today, he showed it."
With 1:47 remaining in the fourth quarter and the Lions already in field goal range, Campbell decided to keep his offense on the field anyway to convert a fourth-and-2. They did just that -- Goff found rookie tight end Sam LaPorta for a six-yard pickup, and Detroit held onto the football until the end of the game, when Riley Patterson drilled a 41-yard kick as time expired.
The Lions rang up 533 yards of offense on the Chargers' beleaguered defense, but they needed every one of them to move to 7-2 on the season. Goff (333 ing yards) and running back David Montgomery (116 rushing yards, one 75-yard touchdown run) continued to impress as Detroit motors toward a return to the playoffs.
Fortune favors the bold Lions
Detroit went for it on fourth down five times on Sunday, and they converted successfully on four of those tries. It's a confident team that trusts itself to gain the required yardage time and time again -- and it takes talented playmakers to pull it off.
"I thought we ran the hell out of it against a really good running defense," Goff said. "Our O-line gets a lot of credit there, but our backs played really well. Getting both of those guys healthy is huge."
Following a big road win in California, the Lions will like their chances against the Chicago Bears in Week 11 -- and you can bet there will be a short fourth down during that game that Campbell, Goff, and company will have no problem converting.