Dan Campbell: 'No answer' why refs didn't flag Justin Fields for intentional grounding
CHICAGO - Dan Campbell was animated on the sideline after officials did not call an intentional grounding penalty on Justin Fields late in the third quarter of Sunday's 28-13 loss to the Chicago Bears, but the Detroit Lions coach declined to talk about that crucial non-call after the game.
"I’m not - I don’t want to answer that," Campbell said. "I don’t. I have no answer to that."
With the game tied at 13 and just under 2 minutes to play in the third quarter, Fields threw incomplete on a third-and-13 pass from his own 38-yard line.
Lions linebacker Julian Okwara hit Fields as he threw from 10 yards deep in the pocket - replays showed Fields started his throwing motion after Okwara made contact from behind - and the ball bounced off of right tackle Darnell Wright's leg, with no intended receiver nearby.
GAME STORY: Detroit Lions thumped by Chicago Bears, 28-13, in jarring performance
Referee Tra Blake announced there was, "No foul for intentional grounding as a hit on the quarterback affected the pass."
Intentional grounding is not a penalty when a quarterback is hit during his throwing motion and the hit affects the throw.
"I mean, I thought it was (intentional grounding) but it’s up to the refs to make those calls so we just got to keep playing, move on to the next play," Okwara said.
The Bears lined up to try and draw the Lions offsides on the next snap, fourth-and-13 from the 38. When Aidan Hutchinson jumped across the line of scrimmage, Bears center Lucas Patrick snapped the ball and Fields threw the go-ahead 38-yard touchdown pass to D.J. Moore.
Had a penalty been assessed, the Bears would have faced a fourth-and-23 from the Lions' 48-yard line and likely would have sent their punt team on the field.
"You can’t rely on the refs to win the game," Lions safety Kerby Joseph said. "You can’t rely on the refs to make calls. If you put your trust in the refs, you’re going to lose. No matter what happened, we just got to do our job."
Asked about the sequence of events a second time in his postgame news conference, Campbell said, "I’m not upset with you, I’m just frustrated about some of that stuff, but it’s ultimately, we didn’t do enough today."
WINDSOR: Detroit Lions beat themselves in worst outing of season, extending troubling trends
The Lions (9-4) lost three turnovers, were penalized eight times for 59 yards and had just 61 yards of offense in the second half. The Bears did not lose a turnover, had only four enforced penalties and outscored the Lions 18-0 in the third and fourth quarters.
Campbell said a lack of discipline cost the Lions both on Fields' fourth-and-13 touchdown and in the game as a whole.
"We’ve been a disciplined team and we just weren’t enough today and they were," Campbell said. "And ultimately, look, we played their game. We never really got to play our game. End of the second quarter we did a little bit, and so when ... they’re allowed to do what they want to do as a team, that serves them well. That’s how they need to be able to play and they’re very good at it and we never took them out of it."
Contact Dave Birkett at dbirkett@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @davebirkett.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Detroit Lions: Intentional grounding penalty wasn't why we lost
