Officials Critical Error Costs Detroit Lions

Officials incorrectly threw a flag against Detroit Lions during their two-point conversion attempt against Dallas Cowboys.

Transcript

00:00 A big error by the officiating crew on Saturday night cost the Lions dearly at the end of that ball game.

00:06 A critical error from Brad Allen and his officiating crew.

00:09 Just horrible, John.

00:10 Now, for you, after looking at that play, what happened there on that call,

00:14 a late game call involving Taylor Decker,

00:16 what do you have now, in the aftermath, to say about that erroneous call made by Brad Allen and his crew?

00:23 Yeah, Vito, in the aftermath of one of the worst calls this season,

00:26 clearly, obviously misidentifying that the official Brad Allen believed that it was Dan Skipper

00:33 who was reporting eligible, when it was clearly, video shows, can't hide in the NFL,

00:38 video clearly showed and was revealed after the game that Taylor Decker reported correctly.

00:43 He admitted it. He said that he did exactly what he was told.

00:47 Jared Goff told him to go to the official.

00:49 Dan Campbell even goes to the official and has on a piece of paper,

00:53 which was revealed when all Lions asked Dan Campbell about his talk with the officials before the game.

00:58 He's put on a piece of paper the play and revealed to the officials that this could be a possibility.

01:04 So for the mistake to happen really is egregious.

01:07 Yeah, the Lions were trying to be deceptive by sending Dan Skipper over there later,

01:11 but in the end, Vito, it's announced who's eligible.

01:15 So obviously the Lions were trying to disguise that the ball was going to go to Taylor Decker,

01:21 but they did everything correctly within the rules to establish that Taylor Decker could receive the football.

01:27 And if you look at the play, the Lions are celebrating in the end zone.

01:30 Everyone's happy. And then the flag comes out.

01:33 It was just unfortunate in that the official clearly made a mistake.

01:37 And you know how I know that the league identifies it as a mistake.

01:41 It's been reported that Brad Allen and his crew have been demoted

01:45 and will not be participating in the postseason.

01:47 If you're doing a good job and you continue to elevate, then you get more opportunities, not less.

01:53 So for the NFL, it's another stain on their officials and they continue to be part of the story.

02:00 And for Detroit and the Lions, another call will go down in Lions lore as an egregious,

02:07 brutal call that this time really could have some playoff ramifications in regards to not allowing the Lions to be the number two seed,

02:15 which in fact, if they are able to get out of the first round,

02:18 means they have to travel on the road as number three seed as opposed to hosting a second home playoff game.

02:25 So unfortunately for fans, it might be just one home playoff game for the Lions in 2023.

02:31 John, thanks for all the time.