Dan Campbell’s patented aggression came out early in the Detroit Lions’ Saturday night game against the Dallas Cowboys.

 

With the Lions trailing 7-3 with 10:01 left in the second quarter, the Detroit punt unit took the field on fourth-and-2 from its own 28, presumably to kick the ball back to the Dallas offense, who just fumbled out of the back of the end zone for a touchback.

Instead, the Lions snapped the ball to linebacker Jalen Reeves-Maybin, the upback in the punt formation, and he rolled to his right and launched a moonshot down the sideline to a wide-open Khalil Dorsey, who pulled down the catch for a 31-yard gain and first down at the Dallas 41-yard line.

The trickery led to the Lions’ best offensive sequence since its opening drive of the game when the Lions hit a field goal. Amon-Ra St. Brown followed the fake punt with an 11-yard run on an end around, then Jahmyr Gibbs ripped off an 11-yard run and a 17-yard run to move Detroit to the Dallas 2-yard line.

However, the Lions couldn’t punch it in from there. On first-and-goal, Gibbs was tackled for a three yard loss, followed by an incompletion and one-yard run. Campbell stayed aggressive and kept the offense on the field for fourth-and-goal, but Jared Goff threw an incomplete pass intended for Sam LaPorta for a turnover on downs. Goff was under immediate pressure from Micah Parsons off the edge, and had to fire a sidearm pass towards the back of the end zone, but missed LaPorta wide right.