Yep. Going for the 4th and 2 up 24-10, while defensible, was the first domino that fell, collapsing the Lions season in a span of minutes. After the Lions held SF to the FG, their win % actually went UP to 91.5%. That was a win for the defense and I said at the time, "just trade scores with them and you'll never be in trouble. The only thing the Lions can't do is hand them free points."
Football is such a mental game, especially in these highly intense situations. I think Campbell passing on the first FG made his team nervous. Like they were playing desperate. He needed to realize that he had the better team and playing with the lead is a lot different than being the plucky underdog with nothing to lose. As soon as Reynolds failed to reel in that pass, you could feel it all unravel. The death blow, IMO, was Gibbs' fumble. They were still up 7, hadn't really been stopped by SF to that point, and could have at least possessed the ball for a bit and settled things down.
Once SF tied it, the loss was inevitable. I just hate it for Lions fans. I still haven't figured out what SF did to win that game other than sit around and wait for the Lions to repeatedly fuck up.
The second drop was egregious. It hit him in perfect stride right in the belly and would have been a decent chunk for a first down. The first "drop" on the 4th and 2 was certainly catchable but I thought Goff really fired it in there like a low fastball. He should have caught it but it wasn't a gimme like the 3rd and 12 play. It was a classic example of a team chocking. As soon as it started going bad nobody could do anything right. The punt was one of the stupidest plays I've ever seen! I was already cheering the play and the guy just... steps into the endzone with the ball. It was a slow motion trainwreck. Just awful.
Football is such a mental game, especially in these highly intense situations. I think Campbell passing on the first FG made his team nervous. Like they were playing desperate. He needed to realize that he had the better team and playing with the lead is a lot different than being the plucky underdog with nothing to lose. As soon as Reynolds failed to reel in that pass, you could feel it all unravel. The death blow, IMO, was Gibbs' fumble. They were still up 7, hadn't really been stopped by SF to that point, and could have at least possessed the ball for a bit and settled things down.
Once SF tied it, the loss was inevitable. I just hate it for Lions fans. I still haven't figured out what SF did to win that game other than sit around and wait for the Lions to repeatedly fuck up.
There was also another drop on 3rd and 12 that forced a punt and then the ensuing punt should have been downed at the one, but the Lions guy stepped into the endzone with the ball. The Niners went down and kicked the go-ahead FG.
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