JJ Watt’s Brutal Reality Check to Dan Campbell on Lions’ 7% Success Rate Move as Josh Allen Capitalized on Costly Mistake

Imagine throwing 5 touchdowns in the game and still losing. That concept seems so alien. Unfortunately, that was the fate of Jared Goff following the home duel against the Buffalo Bills. But that’s not our takeaway for the game. With just 12 minutes left in the game, Dan Campbell’s Lions made a mistake that destroyed their 11-game win streak.

This time, despite his reputation for gutsy, creative plays, Dan Campbell’s gimmicks failed. 12 minutes remained in the last quarter and the Lions HC decided to take an onside kick. The ball bounced and a Bills defender got his hands on it and returned it the other way. He managed to carry the ball to the 5-yard line and that made Josh Allen’s job a walk in the park. That decision made the former NFLer JJ Watt call out Dan Campbell.

JJ Watt tried to dismantle Dan Campbell’s credibility by questioning the play. “I ‘think’ I could wrestle a small bear, that doesn’t mean I should try it,” Watt hilariously replied to Campbell’s post-game presser on X. “I love that DC believes in his squad so much that he thinks everything they do will be successful. But onside kicks have a 7% success rate. Trying one with 12 min left while only down by 10 was insane,” Watt further added.

Without wasting much time, Allen and the boys lined up in the Lions territory, and the Bills QB extended the 38-28 lead to 45-28. That seemed borderline asinine, and Campbell is getting a lot of flak for it. After all, the Motor City team lost with a 6-point differential, which was the exact number of points they gave away. What’s Campbell’s reasoning for doing so?

Apparently, he wanted to save the time in the fourth quarter. The Lions planned to stop the Bills to a field goal and use that time to march down the Bills territory. “I thought we’d get that ball,” Campbell said, explaining his decision. The Lions head coach then reflected on his decision and regrated it. “I wish I hadn’t done it,” the Motor City HC added further.

Dan Campbell took accountability for the loss in the postgame presser. “We were not ready to play today,” Campbell said later. “We were not good enough today … it starts with me. I have to do a much better job of getting these guys ready to roll, and to be urgent against this type of opponent.”

Detroit fans might be feeling bad for Jared Goff who threw for a whopping 494 yards and 5 touchdowns. Who’s putting up those kinds of numbers? It’s mind-boggling. Then again, this loss is the perfect example of how the numbers don’t show the whole picture. At the same time, Josh Allen is also playing the best Football of his career. Let’s talk about his fourth-quarter TD that helped them improve their record to 11-3.

Josh Allen punishes Dan Campbell

Talking about the onside kick again, the pigskin landed in the hands of Mack Hollinswho returned it for 38 yards. It set up a one-play scoring drive for the Bills and Josh Allen’s stars couldn’t have been more aligned. With 11:51 left in the quarter, the Bills stood at Detroit’s 5-yard line, first and goal. The Buffalo QB was quick to find space and dumped the ball to RB Ray Davis.

It’s commendable to see how Josh Allen got right up after taking really nasty hits. At one point, the Bills were scared that Allen’s shoulder might give out on him. Luckily, nothing alarming showed up in the initial X-ray and the QB admitted that he can still throw. Phew! Allen ended up with 362 passing yards, and 2 passing TDs. Now add two more rushing yards over 68 yards and you’ve got an unstoppable QB.

The argument to give the MVP award to Josh Allen is really strong. The Buffalo QB was chastised last season for throwing 18 interceptions through 17 games. That number has gone down to 5 so that just shows how hard Allen worked to get here. The 11-3 Patriots will host the Pats at Highmark Stadium. That should be a cakewalk for them.