Buccaneers got bailed out thanks to a big mistake from Dan Campbell

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers were on both sides of the Dan Campbell experience on Sunday afternoon in Detroit. One side was less fun than the other, but both involved special teams decisions that had a big impact on the game.

In the second quarter, backed up on their own five yard line, the Lions pulled off a wicked fake punt to convert on fourth down and keep their drive alive.

Nothing screams Dan Campbell like going for it on fourth down, but to do it that deep in your own territory is unblieveably gutsy. The fact that it worked is more on the Bucs for not remembering how much Campbell likes to gamble, as they were caught completely flat footed.

Granted, not many people would believe a coach would try to fake a punt from his own five, but then again that's Dan Campbell's brand. Later in the game, however, things swung the other way and a poor special teams decision came back to bite the Lions in a bad way.

Lions screw themselves out of points before halftime after forgetting what down it was

With about 0:10 left in the half and no timeouts left, the Lions completed a pass to St. Brown that set up what should have been a chip shot field goal. That's where mass chaos and confusion broke out, as the Lions sent its field goal unit rushing out while Jared Goff desperately tried to snap the ball and spike it.

Goff was in the right, as it was third down and he had everyone set up perfectly to spike the ball and stop the clock. Dan Campbell, on the other hand, seemed to think it was fourth down which is the only reason why he would have sent his field goal unit out when he did.

Had Campbell not rushed into a decision, the Lions likely would have gotten points before halftime and cut the lead to 13-9 while also getting the ball to start the second half. It was a massive mental error, but one that the coach compeltely owned.

"Totally screwed my team. That is mine," Campbell said to Laura Okmin. "I made a decision I shouldn't have made, and our team is going to have to overcome it."

It's not hard to see why players love playing for this guy, but it doesn't change the fact that the Buccaneers got bailed out in a big way before halftime. For once, though, it wasn't Tampa Bay making a bad end-of-half decision.

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