No, Jared Goff's knee being down during Dan Campbell's gutsy 4th down call wasn't missed by refs

Um, no offense NFL fans, but make sure to check your rulebook.

As you might have seen on Thursday night, Dan Campbell made a truly gutsy call on fourth down with under a minute to go in the Detroit Lions’ eventual 34-31 win over the Green Bay Packers.

Instead of kicking the field goal with the game tied and the Lions facing 4th-and-inches, he kept the offense on the field and called for David Montgomery to run it for a first down and THEN kick the field goal. It worked, but it almost didn’t when QB Jared Goff stumbled yet somehow got the ball into Montgomery’s hands.

Some fans thought that Goff should have been whistled for being down, but this isn’t college football. If it was, they’d have a case:

"[Dan Campbell is] dying to go for it. But obviously, he's gotta kick this field goal to potentially win this game, at least go ahead here by three." – Kirk Herbstreit

Dan Campbell chose to go for it, and the Lions got what was essentially a game-sealing first down. #NFL https://t.co/PXUM3CWZSf pic.twitter.com/SMrGGlywBS

— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) December 6, 2024

Jared Goff's knee is clearly down before he hands the ball off. The NFL misses shit all the time, but I'm shocked the commentators missed it after watching it in slow motion. pic.twitter.com/AaOFNtHEKr

— Javier Ayala (@javierayala10) December 6, 2024

Was Jared Goff knee down before he handed the ball off? Shouldn’t he be down? pic.twitter.com/dkuhje9GMO

— Mr B. (@HoeAssMrB) December 6, 2024

Jared Goff would’ve been ruled down if this was college.

Just an insane, gutsy call from Dan Campbell. #OnePride | #GBvsDET

pic.twitter.com/r2wMNQs4vD

— Lukas Weese (@Weesesports) December 6, 2024

Jared Goff knee hit the ground before he got the handoff out and the refs didn’t do anything lmao pic.twitter.com/uioCLjqMYI

— John (@iam_johnw) December 6, 2024