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Eric WoodyardESPN
DETROIT — With a standing room-only audience in attendance Sunday, Detroit Lions head coach Dan Campbell got caught up in the Ford Field festivities as a key play was being called.
Campbell couldn’t help but notice the 66,374 fans participating in the wave during the Lions’ 34-23 win against the Minnesota Vikings, which was capped by offensive tackle Penei Sewell‘s game-sealing catch on third-and-7 at the two-minute mark of the fourth quarter.
But as Campbell admitted, he almost missed the call from offensive coordinator Ben Johnson while being captivated by the crowd.
“Here’s another thing that happened, these things happen during the game. So, we’re in that situation and the fans are doing the wave around the stadium,” Campbell told “The Pat McAfee Show” on Tuesday. “And so I’m just watching and I hear Ben Johnson’s like, ‘Hey Coach, do you want to brr, brr, brr … and I’m so focused on the wave and I said, ‘Yeah, that’s fine.’
“And I look up and we’re throwing it to Penei and I’m like, ‘What the f— are we doing?’ They said, ‘Coach, you said it was fine.’ But it worked out great. It was unbelievable.”
After the win, Sewell said he maintained the same confidence to make a catch for a first down as he does with blocking somebody.
“Yeah man, everybody is capable of doing whatever they set their mind to and Ben Johnson does a great job of putting the confidence in each and everybody’s mind, so yeah, sky’s the limit,” Sewell said.