National Football League

Lions coach Jim Caldwell defends decision to punt in the fourth quarter

Published Jan. 8, 2017 10:26 a.m. ET

Cameron DaSilva

The Detroit Lions trailed the Seattle Seahawks all night on Saturday, eventually falling 26-6 for their ninth straight postseason loss. It was ugly towards the end, but the Lions were still in the game midway through the fourth quarter.

At least, they were until Jim Caldwell opted to punt from his own 44-yard line. Trailing by 13 with 8 minutes left in the fourth, Caldwell called for a Sam Martin punt on fourth-and-10. The Seahawks began their drive at the 16-yard line, marching 84 yards down the field for a touchdown. It gave Seattle an insurmountable 20-point lead, which they would never relinquish.

Caldwell doubled-down on his decision after the game, arguing that it was the right call.

“It’s a two-score game in that situation,” Caldwell said, via the Detroit Free Press. “You punt it, you get them stopped. We had our time-outs to utilize in that situation. You’ve still got a chance to get a score if you can stop them and whatever it takes, however much time you have left, onside kick or whatever it might be.

"But a two-score game I think in that situation, fourth-and-10 is a long way to go, so we just thought our best chance was see if we can get them stopped another way and it just didn’t work out that way.”