PHILADELPHIA – The Philadelphia Eagles kept most of their starting defense on the field.
Jalen Carter, Zack Baun, Jalyx Hunt. Reed Blankenship.
And when they stuffed Grant Stuard for no gain on a fake punt on fourth-and-2 early in the second quarter – the second of five unsuccessful tries the Detroit Lions had on fourth downs on the night – they told Stuard in no uncertain terms they knew what was coming.
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“They said, ‘I watched y’all on tape,’” Stuard said in the locker room after the game. “Detroit got a history of running fakes, so I’m sure they prepared for every fake that Detroit has ran. A lot of people run that specific fake and we just felt like our guys could beat their guys and it just didn’t work out.”
The Lions didn’t beat the Eagles at much of anything Sunday, losing in a showdown of NFC powers, 16-9, at Lincoln Financial Field.
The loss knocked the Lions (6-4) out of first place in the NFC North and out of control of a wild-card spot in the playoff standings. They trail the Chicago Bears (7-3) by a game and the Green Bay Packers (6-3-1) by a half-game in the division, and would not make the playoffs if the postseason started today.
The Eagles (8-2) are tied with the Los Angeles Rams for the best record in the NFC and essentially lead the Lions by three games – they have two more wins, plus the tiebreak – in the race for homefield advantage in the playoffs.
Detroit Lions running back Jahmyr Gibbs (0) walks off the field after a failed fourth down conversion against Philadelphia Eagles during the first half at Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia on Sunday, November 16, 2025.
“It sucks,” Lions quarterback Jared Goff said. “It stings. You want to come out here and play well and beat a really good team and be able to have a kind of hallmark win in the middle of the season but didn’t get it done.”
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The NFL leader in completion percentage coming into the game, Goff struggled through one of his worst games as a Lion on Sunday.
He completed just 14 of 37 passes for a single-game career-worst completion percentage (37.9%) as the Lions struggled to sustain drives and score points.
The Lions went 3-for-13 on third downs and 0-for-5 on fourth downs.
Along with Stuart’s failed fake, Goff was 0-for-3 passing in fourth downs and running back Jahmyr Gibbs was stopped for no gain on a fourth-and-1 rushing play.
After the game, Lions coach Dan Campbell expressed regret about some of his decisions.
“I told the team that,” Campbell said. “It’s like, man, there’s some things I wish I would have done different and look, the bottom line is you obviously, if you go totally conservative, in the way this game played out, in the way it was, you got a better chance of winning that game than some of those decisions I made. I understand that. But I also, that’s who we are, that’s who I am. And it bit us today.”
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The NFL’s most aggressive team on fourth downs since Campbell took over in 2021, the Lions largely took that approach Sunday while playing in swirling wind sand temperatures that hovered around 40 degrees and against an Eagles team that looked equally as inept on offense most of the day.
READ MORE: Campbell has to balance ‘Gamblin’ Dan’ with what the Lions need in tight games
Goff threw an interception on a tipped pass on the Lions’ opening drive, and the Lions lined up to go for their first fourth down later in the first quarter before taking a delay of game on fourth-and-6 from the Eagles’ 40-yard line.
Gibbs was stopped for no gain on his fourth-and-1 from the Detroit 48 on the Lions’ next series, and Stuard kept a fake punt on one Lions possession later on fourth-and-2 from the Detroit 43.
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Stuard said he had the option to call the play off, but said the Eagles “did someting different then they’ve done all year on tape post-snap.”
“It seemed like they knew it was coming, they were saying that afterward at the end of the play,” he said, comparing their defense to a “tush push” run defense.
“You know how you get low and you kind of wedge during a tush push?” he said. “That’s pretty much what one of their players (Moro Ojomo) did and he’s a 300-pound defensive lineman. It’s not favorable if he does that.“
The Lions failed to convert fourth downs in Philadelphia territory on all three of their third-quarter possessions, including fourth-and-goal from the 3 with the Eagles leading 13-6.
Detroit Lions head coach Dan Campbell talk to quarterback Jared Goff (16) before a play against Philadelphia Eagles during the first half at Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia on Sunday, November 16, 2025.
But Campbell also got conservative at times, opting not to use timeouts to stop the clock when the Eagles drove for their lone touchdown late in the first half, and punting on fourth-and-10 from the Lions’ 42-yard line, down 16-6 with 5:12 to play.
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With three losses in their past five games, the Lions have hit a lull for the first time since the first half of the 2022 season, though Campbell said he’s not worried about his team’s psyche or place in the standings or anything else with seven games to go.
“We’re talking about one, two, maybe three plays is the difference and we’re sitting up here and we just won the game and it’s like, ‘Whoa, man, that was a hell of a win. You guys stuck it out,’” Campbell said. “But we just didn’t make those plays and so I really believe that’s not going to be the norm, what happened today. I don’t believe that’s the norm.
“We just, we could not quite convert, we were a little bit off and I don’t believe that that’s going to be here to stay. We’re going to clean up a few things. We’re going to find our rhythm and we’re all going to be better for it.”
Dave Birkett covers the Lions for the Detroit Free Press. Contact him at dbirkett@freepress.com. Follow him on Bluesky, X and Instagram at @davebirkett.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Dan Campbell explains Detroit Lions fourth-down decisions vs Eagles
