Jim Caldwell’s stinginess with timeouts has helped Detroit pull out multiple late-game victories in 2016.
The Lions (4-3) have their head back above water. And for now, Caldwell, timeouts in hand, appears to know where he’s leading this ship.
After the Lions’ season-opening win over the Colts, much debate took place over head coach Jim Caldwell’s late-game timeout strategy. He admittedly puts an extreme emphasis on not using his timeouts, specifically in the second halves of games. All coaches do this to some degree, but Caldwell rarely uses any unless absolutely necessary so that the offense will have them in a potential late-game situation. In the Colts game, the Lions blew a lead and Matthew Stafford needed to drive down with under a minute left to get Detroit into field goal range. Thanks to Caldwell’s strategy, the Lions were able to move downfield with very little time to steal a victory over the Colts.
The same situation happened in yesterday’s win over the Redskins. The Lions were suddenly losing the game by four points and had only a minute left on the clock to get a game-winning touchdown. Becuase Stafford knew he had the safety net of three timeouts, he was able to scramble up the middle and get as many yards as possible, without worrying about getting out of bounds. He then completed a pass to Andre Roberts, who also caught the ball inbounds. No big deal, another timeout. Both were big plays, that wouldn’t have been possible without those precious timeouts. Stafford then found Boldin for an 18-yard strike and the Lions stole yesterday’s game from the Redskins, 20-17.
This “strategy” is largely possible because of Stafford’s late-game success (24 game-winning drives in 100 starts). But these timeouts have significantly helped Detroit in all four of their wins this season. Now, it’s not a strategy everyone agrees with. Sometimes, I even get frustrated when watching the Lions let the other team bleed the clock to death and make it an all-or-nothing drive for the Lions at the end. When you have Matthew Stafford, though, an all-or-nothing drive to win or lose is something most Lions fans would prefer – especially with the performance of Detroit’s defense late in games.
The Lions are living on the edge this season. No game feels safe. Yesterday’s 10-point lead late in the fourth quarter disappeared into thin air. The Colts game should have been a blowout, but they couldn’t make stops down the stretch. They let the Rams and Eagles take leads they had no business taking and Marcus Mariota picked them apart for the inexcusable loss in week two. The games they’ve won, however, have all been undeniably helped by Caldwell’s stinginess with second half timeouts. So, as some will agonize over how uncomfortably close the games get late, Caldwell seems to trust his team in these nail-biting moments to make the plays necessary to win. It’s been enough to emerge victorious for three straight weeks. After the 1-3 start, few thought Caldwell could redeem himself this season. The Lions (4-3) have their head back above water. And for now, Caldwell, timeouts in hand, appears to know where he’s leading this ship.
Follow Matt Urben on Twitter @MattUrben88