3 Lions most to blame for Thanksgiving loss to Bills

Detroit Lions to blame: Dan Campbell

Dan Campbell can be thanked for Detroit’s rapid turnaround, as the Lions had won three games in a row entering Thursday’s tilt against the Bills. But he should also receive some blame as to how his team looked in critical moments against Buffalo.

It was yet another road game for Buffalo after they were forced to play at Ford Field due to a rampant snowstorm last Sunday. Yet, the Bills looked far more comfortable with the football world watching.

With under two minutes remaining, Campbell was seemingly winding down the clock, but made some curious play-calls and flirted with borderline brutal time management. On a third-and-one, Detroit took a shot at the end zone on a long fade down the sidelines rather than a more conservative call. Goff’s pass fell silently to the turf, thus forcing the Lions to kick a game-tying field goal rather than continue their drive into the red zone. He also ended the drive with two timeouts in his pocket.

Just a couple seconds later, and the Bills drove the ball onto the Detroit side of the field thanks to a long pass from Josh Allen to Stefon Diggs. If Campbell was trying to keep the ball away from Buffalo, he failed to do so. And playing for the tie as 9.5-point underdogs is not in the formula to pull off an upset.