There is hardly anything else that American sports fans are currently debating as passionately as the size of Detroit Lions coach Dan Campbell’s testicles. In a metaphorical sense, of course, it’s about what Americans call “Big Set of Balls” when they talk with admiration about an athlete who does what others wouldn’t even dare to think about.
The top game on Sunday against the Buffalo Bills was therefore a foretaste of a possible Super Bowl duel – with all due respect to the quality of the Kansas City Chiefs and their attempt to become the first franchise in the Super Bowl era to win three titles in a row . The Bills’ 48:42 victory was a football flavor explosion, it couldn’t be more spectacular or exciting. And that had a lot to do with the decisions Campbell made along the way and how his counterpart Sean McDermont reacted to them.
The German Amon-Ra St. Brown is almost always there when things get wild in the Lions offense
A few examples in which the Lions pass receiver with the German flag on his helmet was involved: A trick play in the first quarter, at the end of which quarterback Jared Goff threw to Amon-Ra St. Brown for 22 yards. A bold play in an almost hopeless position at the start of the second half, culminating in a 66-yard touchdown pass from Goff to St. Brown. The strategy trick towards the end of the game in which St. Brown catches a pass from Goff – but passes the ball on to colleague Jahmyr Gibbs, who gains another 21 yards of space.
The German-American St. Brown, 25, is almost always there when the Lions’ offense gets wild; The magnificent statistics are therefore almost normal: 14 passes caught, 193 yards gained, one touchdown; his tenth this season, only the fourth of his young career.
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The Lions are this season’s tongue-in-cheek team, the one with the crazy plays and the always-at-risk strategy – and the wonderfully crazy, feel-good bear Campbell on the sidelines, who one has to assume is the wonderful football coach Ted Lasso from the series of the same name was drawn after him. He understands his players and protects them. Symbolic of this was a moment in the preparation in which he announced a surprising full-contact training session and then gave an emotional speech from which the following passage is recorded: “Studies show that you need these intensive repetitions before the start of the season. I have a plan. All I think about is you and how I can give you the best possible experience. You just have to trust me. Please!”
Campbell is considered a passionate player-understanding who, when making all strategy decisions, always makes those decisions that are at the top right of the risk-reward scale. Something like that is easy to market, but it’s not entirely true. Because Campbell also said in his speech to the players after training: “I swear: I’m not a madman!”
Campbell made the game of football more exciting
Campbell’s decisions come not from his gut, but from his head, with the help of statistics gurus with AI calculators. The Lions are all about probability, tailored to this team to make the best possible. The word has now gotten around in the league: Suddenly not only are the Lions trying to extend the attack series on the fourth attempt and not kick the ball to the opponent as usual, but also the Bills on Sunday. So they managed the touchdown to make it 21:7. So there’s a method to the madness, it’s statistically proven and it’s a worthwhile risk for teams that can afford it.
This profitable risk leads to more spectacle. Such a move ultimately either leads to the continuation of the attack series in a better position or the opponent takes over in a significantly better starting position than after a point. This in turn leads to more points. So Campbell made football more attractive. And because he does this with a now blindly rehearsed offensive, a spectacle is created in the square.
The Lions look like a more extreme version of the Chiefs, who also rely on risk and trick plays. If you add the records of both teams together, you get 25 wins and three defeats. The record of the two against the Bills is: two defeats.
Buffalo’s offense literally dismantled the Lions’ defense, which is currently missing 13 players with injuries, just as it recently pulverized the Chiefs defense (30:17). Nobody wants to play against the Bills, where the madness has just as much method as in Detroit and Kansas City. And that says a lot about what is currently successful American football.
“That’s on me,” said Campbell after the game: “We weren’t ready, we weren’t prepared well enough – and that’s my mistake.” He listed a few things that the opponent had done well and also said, how he failed to react adequately: “We weren’t at the Bills’ level, and I have to take responsibility for that. It’s my job to give my boys the best possible experience; I don’t have that today.” And didn’t you have to love him for that?
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