It might be time for the NFL to take a collective pause and reassess how far its coaches have pushed the boundaries on fourth-down gambles. What once felt daring has now morphed into something closer to dependency.

If there were weekly support meetings for this sort of thing, you could probably schedule the first one in Detroit.

“Hi, I’m Dan, and I can’t stop going for it.”

“Hi, Dan.”

On Sunday night in Philadelphia, Campbell doubled down—again—on his signature aggressive style, opting to go for it on fourth down five separate times. That included a fake punt in the second quarter and attempts on all three of Detroit’s third-quarter possessions.

Here’s where he took the risks, in order:
• Fourth-and-1 from Detroit’s 48
• Fourth-and-2 from Detroit’s 43
• Fourth-and-5 from the Eagles’ 32
• Fourth-and-goal from the Eagles’ 3
• Fourth-and-3 from the Eagles’ 45

All of this happened in a game where the Lions were never down more than seven points.

And here were the outcomes:
• Jahmyr Gibbs stuffed for no gain
• Grant Stuard stopped on a direct-snap fake punt
• Jared Goff incomplete to Jameson Williams
• Goff incomplete to Amon-Ra St. Brown
•  Another incompletion toward St. Brown

Five attempts, five failures. Detroit never converted, ultimately losing 16–9 and slipping to 6–4—momentarily outside the NFC playoff field.

Afterward, Campbell conceded that dialing back the aggression might have changed the result.

“Yeah, being more conservative probably gives us a better shot to win than some of the things I chose today,” he admitted. “I get that. But this is who we are. It’s who I am. And today, it cost us.”

Recognizing the issue is usually the first step, or so the saying goes.

But Campbell is far from the only coach battling this particular habit. There may be as many fourth-down risk-takers in the league as there are punters feeling underappreciated.

Through Week 11, nine NFL teams had already attempted 20 or more fourth-down plays. Only the Panthers (27) and Giants (25) had gone for it more often than the Lions (23, tied with Jacksonville). Meanwhile, only four teams had fewer than 10 attempts total.

Contrast that with 2015: only four teams the entire year attempted more than 20 fourth-down tries, and none hit 25. Analytics and collective trends have clearly reshaped the landscape.

Even Eagles head coach Nick Sirianni got caught up in the movement Sunday night. Holding a 16–6 lead late in the fourth quarter, he chose to go for it on fourth-and-1 from his own 29. Detroit stuffed Jalen Hurts, giving the Lions prime field position. Detroit quickly kicked a field goal to pull within one score—and still had all three timeouts.

Sirianni escaped only because a questionable pass-interference call on Detroit allowed Philadelphia to bleed the clock.

Just one week earlier, another failed fourth-down call by Philly left Green Bay attempting a 64-yard field goal to tie the game. They missed, and the Eagles lived to tell the story.

Sirianni defended his philosophy after the latest close call.

“There are a lot of things that go into it,” he said. “It starts with the players and the play you choose. Analytics gives you data, but if you don’t trust the guys to execute, then the numbers don’t matter. … Analytics is part of it. The studies you do, your past results, everything feeds into that decision.”

At this point, trying to reverse the league-wide trend is probably hopeless. Fans can only hope their coaches find the balance—knowing when not to push the envelope, when to take the risk, and when the numbers and instincts actually line up.