Caldwell Defends Late-Game Onside Kick, Says "Numbers Were Good"
By: Will Burchfield
@burchie_kid
Jim Caldwell stood behind his decision to attempt an onside kick in the dying minutes of the Lions' 20-13 loss to the Houston Texans on Sunday, a gamble that quickly backfired when the Texans recovered the kick and ran out the clock.
The Lions had pulled within a touchdown with 2:53 remaining and had all three timeouts at their disposal.
"We had an opportunity," Caldwell said on Monday. "We knew if we didn't recover the onside kick we were going to have to stop them. Obviously, with the onside kick, if you kick it deep and they do exactly what they did, the game still ends, right? Maybe on the other side of the 50 when you look at it, because all they had to do was get two first downs with the timeouts that we had and the game's over with."
Sam Martin's low-bouncing kick was easily recovered by Houston's Robert Nelson at the Lions' 44-yard line. From there, the Texans ran Lamar Miller four straight times for a combined 25 yards, facing very little resistance from Detroit's defensive line.
Caldwell defended his decision nevertheless, explaining the underlying statistics were in favor of an onside kick.
"So we decided let's see if we can get ourselves a chance, and the numbers were good. Our defense still had an opportunity, we've stopped them in those situations before. They've had to either kick a long field goal or punt and we don't feel it's any less just in terms of the opportunity they had," he said.
The coach confirmed he has called for onside kicks in similar situations in the past, namely with three timeouts in his pocket and the two-minute warning forthcoming.
"Certainly," he said.
Asked how those decisions have generally panned out, he said they've gone both ways.
"I've done it so many times I'm sure there's been some positive and some negative," Caldwell said.
Strangely, Martin's kick was directed toward the side of the field where the Lions had fewer players, seemingly decreasing their odds of recovering the football. Again, Caldwell explained it was a statistically-informed decision.
"If you take a look at their numbers and that's really what we try to do, the situation that we like to have was exactly the situation we got," he said.
As for why Martin attempted a low-skidding kick rather than a high-arching one, Caldwell explained it was a strategic decision.
"We have several different ones, it just kind of depends on the situation," he said.
