Detroit Lions 16 , Pittsburgh Steelers 16
DAN CAMPBELL: Not necessarily, but it's like I told the guys, I was upset we didn't win. But I was also proud of them because of the fact we put ourselves in a position to win that game in overtime and it didn't work out.
And our defense has to go back and take the field. And they're driving. And we force a turnover, which I thought was big, you know. And that kept us from losing is what it did.
So we want to win. We're looking for our first win. But I know this, we were better than we were two weeks ago. So that's a good team.
Q. You talked about the challenge of beating the Steelers at their own game. (No microphone.) How much of that was necessitated by Jared not being able to do the things that he normally would?
DAN CAMPBELL: Yeah. I think it was weather and I think -- and it was a little bit of him. It was both really.
You know, we had an idea the weather was going to go this way, particularly last night. It was confirmed. So we were set up to do that if need be. But I don't think we necessarily saw it being quite that much.
So it was -- I think it was really both.
Q. On the sideline we saw him even laboring through some of those warmup drills. What went into decision to stick with him after (no microphone) --
DAN CAMPBELL: Yeah. I mean, I kept talking to our trainers and talking to him, talking to Brunell and, you know, it was -- the consensus was leave him in there. He was good to go. He wanted to go. He felt good enough to do what he needed to do. And so that's what we did, stuck with him.
Q. And did you -- were you calling offense?
DAN CAMPBELL: I was. But there again, it was -- this is -- listen, man, this is a collaboration here. And I'm taking a lot of input. I still talk to A. Lynn. Plays come in. But, yes, I was giving it to Jared.
Q. Can you explain why you decided to do that this week?
DAN CAMPBELL: Yeah. I just -- one of the things was why not change it up a little bit here. I wanted to be able to talk to him in game.
Sometimes I think when you're able to get in the flow of the game when you're the guy who's calling it, it just helps to know exactly where to go, whether it's a third down or -- and so, yeah.
But, there again, it's just -- honestly, I don't think it's a big deal. There were still things I was giving to A. Lynn when he was calling. It's just now I took the green dot basically to Goff so I could communicate to him. So I'll still grab some calls from them. I'll use my own calls. It was a joint effort by all those guys.
Q. Is that the plan going forward?
DAN CAMPBELL: I don't know. We'll see. Just kind of analyze it. I need to see what I did, what I can do better. Is there a better way to go or -- just kind of go from there.
Q. You had to consider at some point taking Goff out because of the injury situation. But the fact the game was still tight and the running game was working, did that sort of make the decision for you to leave him in there?
DAN CAMPBELL: I think it was more that. We all felt like he was good. He was good enough to go. I mean, from him -- that's what I was just telling Justin. I mean, from him to Brunell to the trainers to -- we all felt like, you know what, okay, he's good enough to stay in there.
And so that's why I stuck with it. I have to go with my gut and look him in the eyes. And I have to listen to the opinion of our trainers. And if we feel like he can make it, he can make it.
Q. But did you think you could win that game just running the ball without much of a passing game though?
DAN CAMPBELL: Yeah. We should have. We didn't, but we should have.
Q. Obviously, you avoided becoming the first 0 and 17 team. It's not a win, but it's also not a loss.
DAN CAMPBELL: Honestly, I don't know. Like I say, I don't -- I'm in this twilight zone. I don't know what this is really. And I'm sure I've been in a tie before as a player. For some reason, I can't remember that, if it was. So I don't know.
It's just -- I have to -- there again, I just -- I'm just proud of the way that they played, man. They snapped back. We were better than we were two weeks ago. And now what we have to do is improve from this week and find a way to beat Cleveland next week.
Q. How much has your game plan changed -- (no microphone).
DAN CAMPBELL: Listen, Swifty I thought had a big game, man. He did some really good things in the run game.
We know he's been pretty dynamic in the pass game for us, able to do a few things. But, man, to see him -- and you could feel it early.
I had a feeling he was -- first couple of runs, man, he kind of had that look. And so just being able to give him the ball. And certainly with Jefferson going down, he was going to get more of a load. But, yeah, I think this will be big for him.
Q. How much did your game plan change with Mason in there instead of Ben? And when did you --
DAN CAMPBELL: Not much.
Q. -- learn that was going to be the case? Were you surprised at all?
DAN CAMPBELL: Not much. We found out last night that that was going to be it. And so I would say for the most part it didn't change that much.
We knew we had to try to stop Najee Harris. That's what everything was going to run through. So it really didn't alter what we had to do.
I mean, we were prepared for other things knowing that Ben was down but...
Q. As well as you ran the ball the first two and a half, three quarters, they did a pretty good job in the last quarter (no microphone) --
DAN CAMPBELL: They did. Yeah. I mean, look, I just need to see the tape. There were a couple of things where they were over shifting, which we knew. But they were trying to do that in the first half, you know.
We had a couple just -- yeah. I mean, they load the box. That's tough.
We did try to make a couple throws down field. We ended up under duress. And, look, man, it's a credit to them. They did -- I would have liked to have thought that with the production we had and what we were able to do that fourth quarter, we should have been able to continue that, and we didn't.
Q. You had a chance to win the game. Beyond the conditions, was there anything else that went wrong with the operation that caused that kick to not go through the uprights?
DAN CAMPBELL: No. I -- no. No. I mean, it just -- it happened, you know.
You'd like to think they're going to make that kick, but it's also -- those conditions were rough. That's why if anything I put that on us offensively, we didn't get down there further.
We put ourselves in a bind. We ended up in a long yardage situation, just trying to get some of it back if not more.
If you don't, at least get yourself closer to the field goal. So, you know, it stinks. Didn't work out.
Q. You mentioned the weather. I mean, was Jared's -- I guess how much did Jared not feeling great hold you back with the play calling the second half? Was that more the weather? What was the split there?
DAN CAMPBELL: Yeah. I think it was -- it was both. I mean, I don't know if I can put a percentage on both.
But, yeah, the weather played into it, but a lot of it was -- it was both. I mean, it's -- you know, it does. It had a little bit of a bearing on it.
Now, he was able to make a couple of throws there at the end so --
Q. How close to the line were you, I guess, to saying you need to get him out of there?
DAN CAMPBELL: I thought about it. But there again, I mean, like I've -- like I've said, this will be the -- you know, I talked to him, I talked to our trainers, I talked to Brunell, you know, talked to A. Lynn. Hey, he's good. He wants to go. He's good. He can do it. So we hung in there and trusted him.
Q. What did happen to Jared?
DAN CAMPBELL: It's really a rib oblique kind of -- we'll see what it is.
Q. It's not a win. But in these conditions against that team, is there some impact for that team in the locker room right now to come out with a tie?
DAN CAMPBELL: Yeah. I mean, look, here's the positive of it is that's a good football team. And that's a winning football team. They've done it right for a long time. They play a physical, bully-type brand of football. And we went toe to toe with them. And I think that's what it says.
So in that regard, I was proud of those guys. And I think you do take something away from that as we were able to go in there.
And, no, we didn't win, but we didn't lose either. All you can ask for is improvement. We improved. We did.
Q. You mentioned Swift and the job he did but you guys have missed Jamaal the last two weeks. What about the job Jamar did coming in, having a big run and Godwin. They gave you really something you needed with Jared being the way it was and you guys had to run the ball?
DAN CAMPBELL: Yeah. I was proud of those guys. All those guys had production. Went in there and just did a great job.
So Duce has done a nice job with those guys. They've got ability. Godwin did a good job returning today again. So, yeah. Did well.
Q. Justin asked something similar. Jamar had a role that was clearly defined. Godwin took those first two 14 and then 42. Wasn't really involved much in the offense. Was there a reason? I think we all know who Swift is and what he can do. (No microphone.)
DAN CAMPBELL: Yeah. I think it was just where we were at in the game. And as that clock is ticking down, you're just -- they had -- you can say, well, Godwin had a hot hand too, I mean, no doubt.
But, at the same time, we just kind of wanted to -- it's hard to take Swifty out if he's ready to go. That's all.
But certainly we trust these guys. We wouldn't have put Godwin in had he not -- you know, I mean, Swift had some good runs and did some good things.
So really just -- if you're asking, yeah, it probably would have been good to get Godwin a couple more carries. It would have been good.
Q. I was just going to ask about the -- (no microphone). Getting Decker back and having Nelson play in that role.
DAN CAMPBELL: Listen. That's what I said. Nelson -- getting Decker back was twofold. Number one, the player that he is. But also to be able to have Nelson going in to play our jumbo tight end, he's outstanding, man. He's a good football player.
He's done a good job for us as tackle all year. And, man, I thought he stepped in and was -- he did a really, really good job.
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