Mike Tomlin supports Dan Campbell's late fourth-down decision

Published October 26, 2026 06:32 AM Mike Tomlin has no qualms regarding a decision from Dan Campbell that may have seemed curious on the surface.Facing fourth and one from the Detroit 24 with 4:53 to play, Campbell opted to go for it. The play resulted in a two-yard loss, and a very short field for the Packers.“I thought we would get it, number one,” Campbell said after the game. “I really believed we would get that. Number two, I knew we would get the ball back if it didn’t work out. Those were the two thoughts.”After Sunday night’s Chiefs-Seahawks game, NBC’s Mike Tirico asked Tomlin for his take on Campbell’s decision.“It centers around elite quarterback play,” Tomlin said. “When you got elite quarterback play, and particularly when you’re playing elite quarterback play, you want to make sure your guy at least has a chance to have the ball at the end of the game. And that’s what that decision appeared to be about for me. If he punts that ball the way Jordan Love and company has been operating, it’s not possible, it’s probable that they’re gonna matriculate the ball down the field and win the game. And so what he did by going for it, he was either gonna be successful and keep the ball for his quarterback, or he was at least gonna give his quarterback an opportunity to answer. I was always ready to make that decision when I had Big Ben [Roethlisberger], for example, and I was facing another elite quarterback.” The Lions got the ball back because their defense stiffened, forcing a field goal try. And because the Detroit special-teams unit blocked the 35-yard try.But even if the Packers had scored a touchdown, the drive started with 4:50 to play. The Lions would have had a chance to answer.And that’s only if the Lions first failed to gain a yard on fourth down by handing it to Jahmyr Gibbs.It’s another tangible example of the key differences between analytics and feel. The coach, considering all circumstances, knew it was the right call.That said, the age of analytics had made it much easier to do something that would have once been ignored as unconventional, since reliance on the math has torn down the wall between what is and isn’t “normal” for a coach to do.And Tomlin’s past actions give his words even more credence. Via NBC Sports research, Campbell was the first coach to go for it on fourth down inside his own 25 in a tie game since Week 1 of the 2014 season. That day, Tomlin’s Steelers ran a fake punt from their own 20 in a 27-27 game against the Browns. It happened with 9:48 to play in a 27-27 game. The play worked, the drive later stalled at the 50, and the Steelers won with a walk-off field goal, 30-27.