Lions defend fake field goal try
By Mike Dyce
Early in the fourth quarter, the Detroit Lions lined up for a field goal on the three yard line. The field goal would’ve given them a seven point lead. Instead, they tried to run a fake and score a touchdown. The fake didn’t work, and the Steelers marched 97 yards down the field and scored what wound up being the game-winning touchdown on the next drive.
We have all kinds of different wrinkles we can decide to use at different times depending on the looks that we see,” kicker David Akers said, via the Detroit News. “They were bringing it hard off the edge and we thought we could slide up in between some of the guys there. Coach (Jim) Schwartz is very aggressive and it was one of those things — yeah, you can hit the three (field goal) there. Most people would have thought we would kick it.
“But this was game-planned and if it was there, let’s go ahead and run it. Seven points would have made a big difference there.”
Akers said it showed their aggressive mentality.
“It comes down to a mentality,” Akers said. “Are you going to play it safe or be aggressive and go after it? At that point, they still have 97 yards to go and we’re still up by four. To me, you give them the ball there, there is a good chance you are going to hold them, force a punt and be right back in field goal position.”
Head coach Jim Schwartz defended his decision.
“You can say whatever you want about me, but don’t say I’m scared because we ain’t. This team is going to be aggressive. We didn’t play well enough to win this game, but it’s not because we were passive.”