Lions Involved In Another Issue Concerning Officiating
When it comes to officiating this season, the Detroit Lions can’t afford to take a vacation.
Packers the game with a two-point convert against the Dallas Cowboys. On this occasion, during a 4th-and-5 play against the Los Angeles Rams in the wild card stage, referees flagged Decker for a false start.
However, after more consideration, some people think the Rams ought to have been penalized for a neutral zone infraction. With 66 seconds remaining, that play would have given the Lions the first down at Los Angeles’ 36-yard line, giving them a chance to extend their advantage to 21-17.
Up until that moment, the Lions had scored touchdowns on three straight 75-yard drives and hadn’t punted the ball once. In his first game back against his former team, quarterback Jared Goff had displayed a superb first half performance, and Detroit was marching downfield to potentially extend their advantage.
Lions Are No Strangers To Officiating Blunders
The missed call by the referees could live in infamy or have zero affect on the outcome of the game. Time will tell. But the last time this happened to Detroit, no one on the team was happy.
Referees claimed that a different Lions offensive lineman reported as an eligible receiver, so they considered Decker as ineligible to catch the two-point conversion that would have won the game. Goff called out the referees publicly after the game and Lions head coach Dan Campbell had some blunt words for what transpired on the field.
The call became a huge talking point throughout the rest of the week and the NFL sent a memo to teams about how to properly report as eligible to the officials before a play.
None of that happened in the wild card game, but that doesn’t mean it won’t when the final whistle is blown.
These two instances aren’t even firsts for the Lions. Other bad calls have gone against Detroit in the past: There was the time referees took away a defensive pass interference penalty against the Cowboys in a 2014 playoff game that would have set up a potential scoring drive for the Lions as well as the infamously illegally batted ball out of the end zone by Seattle Seahawks linebacker K.J. Wright in Week 4 of the 2015 season.
The Lions have had a complicated relationship with officials and that doesn’t seem to have changed even with the team’s recent success.
Lions Playing First Home Playoff Game In 20 Years
The Lions have a lot on the line in this game. Not only is Detroit one of the best teams in the NFL, but they won the NFC North and secured a home playoff game for the first time since 1993.
They actually had a shot at the No. 2 seed in the playoffs if they had beat the Cowboys two weeks ago. But because of the missed call, they had to settle for the No. 3 seed but remained at home. However, after the Cowboys were upset by the Green Bay Packers on Jan. 14, the Lions are the second-highest seeded team left in the NFC and would host the divisional round matchup if they beat the Rams. They would also host the NFC title game if the San Francisco 49ers lose to the Packers next week.