Kimberly P. Mitchell / USA TODAY NETWORK Late in the Cardinals game, the Lions used a timeout to avoid a delay of game when they were going to punt anyways. ST coordinator Dave Fipp explained why that was the right move. Detroit Lions coach Dan Campbell was met with some minor criticism after the team’s 20-13 victory against the Arizona Cardinals. The gripe—which was admittedly pretty small in scale—surrounded a timeout he called in the fourth quarter. The Lions had the ball fourth-and-1 from their own 46-yard line with 6:54 remaining in the game and Detroit up 10 points. Campbell sent the offense on the field to try to get the Cardinals to jump offsides and get a free first down, but Arizona wasn’t budging. As the play clock ran down, Campbell opted to take a timeout. Others believed that the Lions should’ve saved a timeout and just taken a delay of game penalty. The thought process there was because punter Jack Fox has a big leg, punting from their own 46-yard line vs. the 41-yard line was negligible, and you never know when you’re going to need timeouts. I asked Fipp if Fox’s preference in where he’s kicking from played into the team’s decision there. He didn’t really have an answer there, but he did provide some insight on how punting on fourth-and-1 is actually a significant advantage for the punting team compared to fourth-and-6. Basically, it comes down to how the coverage team plays both downs differently. “When it’s fourth-and-1 and you’re punting the football, usually they have a defense out on the field, they’re in more of a safe configuration, which (results) a lot less return, normally,” Fipp said. “And you’re playing to make sure you don’t give up the fake or the first down if you’re on defense. So now the punt team really has an advantage. So in that situation there—it was fourth-and-1, I believe—we opted to take the timeout because we knew fourth-and-1 would keep their defense on the field and it would really help our punt team go out there and execute at a high level. “Then if they had the rush team out there and it was fourth-and-6, I feel like maybe they can rush the punt a little more, maybe they can run a little more of a hold-up scheme, and now your net on that play would drop. So at the end of that play, it ends up being more advantageous for them in that situation. “So, in my opinion, it was a great call by coach Campbell, and we had the luxury of using a timeout because obviously we had the lead.” It’s both a great answer from Fipp and an important reminder that decisions we see on the field are not always as simple as they appear.