they should have just tied the game after the messed up ref call and go to OT
If Goodel doesn’t admit fault in this the owners need to fire him.
This is one where I am waiting to see how things unfold.
That will never happen. The owners are more than happy with Goodell bringing in the $$$ for them.
I naively thought that Goodell might get canned for how he handled the Ray Rice situation. If that didn’t undo him, this certainly won’t.
You are right, but there is no defending this one
And it gets better.
Had they called that correctly, the later call may not even have happened. Based on this, I have less sympathy thinking only the Lions were hosed in that game.
The NFL appears to be noting how lousy this officiating team is.
Missing a tripping is bad but missed calls happen all the time (holding, PI, etc).
This was literally the official claiming the wrong person checked in as eligible.
I don’t seem to recall so many bad calls. I kind of think as much as nobody wants to admit it, sports gambling might be playing a bit of a role.
Well…it looks like the Lions won’t have to worry about this crew in the playoffs.
Another take, from Peter King:
The Detroit officiating debacle. You’ve no doubt seen the end of Dallas’ 20-19 win over Detroit, and the Lions flying into orbit when referee Brad Allen disallowed the two-point conversion that likely would have won the game 21-20. I think there’s blame on both sides—the officials and the Lions. It’s too easy to demonize Allen, although he should have handled the play much better.
After Amon-Ra St. Brown scored to cut Dallas’ lead to one with 23 seconds left in the game, coach Dan Campbell kept the offense on the field, choosing to go for two and the win. Before the play, left tackle Taylor Decker (number 68) and right tackle Penei Sewell (58) walked over to Allen, while backup tackle Dan Skipper, number 70, jogged in from the sideline to join them with Allen for a moment. Then Allen jogged toward the Dallas defense and announced to the stadium, “Number 70 is an eligible receiver. Number 70 is eligible.”
Here’s problem number one: Decker, Sewell and Skipper all went to Allen—likely to try to confuse Dallas about who exactly the eligible lineman was. Allen should have been crystal clear with them and confirmed who the eligible lineman would be. Usually what happens is a lineman who is reporting as eligible will say to the official, I’m reporting as eligible, or something similar, while making a motion up and down his jersey, the motion that signifies a lineman who is eligible. If Allen was wrong in calling 70 as eligible, the Lions should have immediately objected and said, No! No! It’s 68 who should be the eligible lineman!
When Detroit lined up for the two-point try, it was 68, Decker, the left tackle, who had no one to his outside and was clearly able to be an eligible receiver—assuming he made it clear to Allen he was that person. Then the play happened, and the Cowboys didn’t pay attention to Decker until it was too later, and Decker caught the two-point pass from Jared Goff.
The Lions should feel angry because Allen seemed to be in a rush to get the play going, not to get the play right. But the Lions seemed to be so intent on fooling the Cowboys—and they did; no one covered Decker—that they confused the official in the process. And in not challenging Allen’s announcement of who was reporting eligible in the approximately eight seconds before the snap of the ball, the Lions were in effect saying that Allen was correct.
The NFL’s now going to have to create a clarification to this rule. Only players who are reporting eligible should be allowed to go to the referee before a snap, and players who report must make the motion on the front of their jerseys. It’s cool to try to pull the equivalent of the hidden-ball trick, but there’s too much that can go wrong with it in a rollicking football stadium, and we saw that Saturday night.
I think King is trying to give the Refs an out.
If there is a division of blame it is at least 90/10 officials.
I think the point is, the Lions were trying to engage in the very kind of deception the rule is intended to prevent. They fooled the Cowboys, but partly by confusing the officials.
So, while the officials screwed up more, it’s also a bit of karma.
And, had the officials done it properly, it’s quite possible the Cowboys would have covered the receiver, so we should not assume the play would still have been successful.
That may be true, but if a ref communicates the wrong number to the other team, the penalty for their mistake shouldn’t benefit the opposing team. Yep…they try to fool and hope that the players see two in and don’t pay attention what the ref tells them. Having two people by the ref ins’t against the rules. They should allow a challenge and if it’s found then replay the down. It shouldn’t matter if the entire team approached the refs and said “68 is eligible”…if the ref goes in and says “70 is eligible”, he is the one causing the opposing team to cover wrong player. The down should have been replayed. Maybe a different player reports as eligible. Not to go all conspiracy theorist, but bettors needed Dallas to win. Thanks to a ref “misreporting” a number - they did.
KC, that does not make any sense. Look at what you said later.
By your own description, the referee’s mistake caused the Cowboys to cover the wrong player. Had they not overturned their call, their mistake would have benefitted the Lions. Whenver a referee makes a mistake, by definition one team will get a benefit from the blown call or other error.
Stop and think how anybody could have possibly used a challenge to prove what had been said when the Detroit players reported.
The refs job is to communicate accurate information. II’ll just chalk this one up as a win for Fan Duel because there were a LOT of happy bettors when that flag was thrown.
The player that the refs announce eligible never even got within 5 yards of the official.
From the PK article:
After Amon-Ra St. Brown scored to cut Dallas’ lead to one with 23 seconds left in the game, coach Dan Campbell kept the offense on the field, choosing to go for two and the win. Before the play, left tackle Taylor Decker (number 68) and right tackle Penei Sewell (58) walked over to Allen, while backup tackle Dan Skipper, number 70, jogged in from the sideline to join them with Allen for a moment. Then Allen jogged toward the Dallas defense and announced to the stadium, “Number 70 is an eligible receiver. Number 70 is eligible.”
If you watch the video 70 was nowhere close to the ref.