Bell (14) was locked in on 70

[Jkyle]

If you watch the 2pt play, you will see that Bell was locked in on 70. Although 70 was at the Tackle position and not "really" eligible to catch the ball, he never leaves the line of scrimmage and Bell also never leaves 70. So it's easy to assume that had 68 was declared eligible, Bell would've been doing the same on him.

 

[CT Dal Fan]

Yes. This is what Jourdan Lewis said after the game. The Cowboys were told 70 declared as eligible, so they covered him.

They were not told 68 was eligible.

So the controversy is, did 68 report, did the officials miss it, or did they announce the wrong number?

 

[MarcusRock]

If you watch the 2pt play, you will see that Bell was locked in on 70. Although 70 was at the Tackle position and not "really" eligible to catch the ball, he never leaves the line of scrimmage and Bell also never leaves 70. So it's easy to assume that had 68 was declared eligible, Bell would've been doing the same on him.

Well this is part of the reason why the Lions were trying to catch the Cowboys sleeping and they would have had a good shot. Correct me if I'm wrong, because I could be, but at the point 70 got covered up by 2 Lions with the formation shift, he became ineligible so Bell could have gone away from him with no problem and been an extra resource on defense yet stayed with 70 unnecessarily. Actually, the playaction RB out in the flat had a good chance to score if Goff went that way and Bell could have been an extra man there. So Bell unavailed himself for no reason. That's the kind of stuff Detroit was counting on in catching the defense napping.

 

[CowboysFaninHouston]

the lions were hoping to catch the cowboys sleeping and fool them to have players follow 68 because your natural instinct is to follow a reciever and cover him.

they failed.

 

[Carson]

the lions were hoping to catch the cowboys sleeping and fool them to have players follow 68 because your natural instinct is to follow a reciever and cover him.

they failed.

This is more so why I was frustrated when people saying refs cheated etc.

no. You tried to overthink this and in the end it bit you

 

[TwoDeep3]

Regardless of all the confusion. The tripping penalty which would have essentially ended the game. The misreporting of the eligible player, no matter if it were a mistake, or a purposeful action to confuse the Cowboys. The not using the time left during the time out by the refs to correct the eligibility issue. Two plays that followed which were stifled by the Cowboys.

The bottom line is this. Detroit should have ceded the mistake and kicked the field goal to tie the game and take it to overtime. All the whining by the talking heads, Lion's team, and Lion's fans doesn't change the fact the real mistake was not getting it to over time.

With the ease it appears to have happened that the Lions traveled the field to get onto position to score, the best shot would have been to take the extra point and then go and win the game.

They chose poorly and got what that decision - decisions wrought.

 

[vicjagger]

the lions were hoping to catch the cowboys sleeping and fool them to have players follow 68 because your natural instinct is to follow a reciever and cover him.

they failed.

70, you mean?

 

[gimmesix]

Well this is part of the reason why the Lions were trying to catch the Cowboys sleeping and they would have had a good shot. Correct me if I'm wrong, because I could be, but at the point 70 got covered up by 2 Lions with the formation shift, he became ineligible so Bell could have gone away from him with no problem and been an extra resource on defense yet stayed with 70 unnecessarily. Actually, the playaction RB out in the flat had a good chance to score if Goff went that way and Bell could have been an extra man there. So Bell unavailed himself for no reason. That's the kind of stuff Detroit was counting on in catching the defense napping.

It was, but it's hard to believe that we would have stayed with 70 if 68 had been announced instead. Bell unavailed himself because 70 was announced. I don't consider that for no reason. I don't think the players sit there and think, "They're in an illegal formation so 70 can't go out for a pass." For one thing, you don't know if the officials would flag it, so you have to cover it anyway.

 

[MarcusRock]

It was, but it's hard to believe that we would have stayed with 70 if 68 had been announced instead. Bell unavailed himself because 70 was announced. I don't consider that for no reason. I don't think the players sit there and think, "They're in an illegal formation so 70 can't go out for a pass." For one thing, you don't know if the officials would flag it, so you have to cover it anyway.

The point is that they didn't catch the formation shift and it eliminated one of them from defense when they could have helped elsewhere. Of course they'd have been on 68 if he were announced but if he too became ineligible in the formation they'd have likewise stayed with him for nothing and deprived themselves of extra resources. It was a brilliant plan because we're not good in heat of the moment situations. But apparently, neither is Detroit because they went ahead with a plan that was unannounced as it had to me.

 

[RustyBourneHorse]

This is more so why I was frustrated when people saying refs cheated etc.

no. You tried to overthink this and in the end it bit you

Yup, they played a stupid game and won a stupid prize.

 

[visionary]

If you watch the 2pt play, you will see that Bell was locked in on 70. Although 70 was at the Tackle position and not "really" eligible to catch the ball, he never leaves the line of scrimmage and Bell also never leaves 70. So it's easy to assume that had 68 was declared eligible, Bell would've been doing the same on him.

Been saying it all along
Only the idiots think that call was an issue at this point

 

[Beaker42]

Regardless of all the confusion. The tripping penalty which would have essentially ended the game. The misreporting of the eligible player, no matter if it were a mistake, or a purposeful action to confuse the Cowboys. The not using the time left during the time out by the refs to correct the eligibility issue. Two plays that followed which were stifled by the Cowboys.

The bottom line is this. Detroit should have ceded the mistake and kicked the field goal to tie the game and take it to overtime. All the whining by the talking heads, Lion's team, and Lion's fans doesn't change the fact the real mistake was not getting it to over time.

With the ease it appears to have happened that the Lions traveled the field to get onto position to score, the best shot would have been to take the extra point and then go and win the game.

They chose poorly and got what that decision - decisions wrought.

That dumbazz female ref needs to be launched by the NFL.

 

[gimmesix]

The point is that they didn't catch the formation shift and it eliminated one of them from defense when they could have helped elsewhere. Of course they'd have been on 68 if he were announced but if he too became ineligible in the formation they'd have likewise stayed with him for nothing and deprived themselves of extra resources. It was a brilliant plan because we're not good in heat of the moment situations. But apparently, neither is Detroit because they went ahead with a plan that was unannounced as it had to me.

The defense did what I would expect a defense to do. They pointed out that 70 was announced as eligible and they made sure they had coverage on him.

 

[Staubacher]

Well this is part of the reason why the Lions were trying to catch the Cowboys sleeping and they would have had a good shot. Correct me if I'm wrong, because I could be, but at the point 70 got covered up by 2 Lions with the formation shift, he became ineligible so Bell could have gone away from him with no problem and been an extra resource on defense yet stayed with 70 unnecessarily. Actually, the playaction RB out in the flat had a good chance to score if Goff went that way and Bell could have been an extra man there. So Bell unavailed himself for no reason. That's the kind of stuff Detroit was counting on in catching the defense napping.

You're leaving out the part where the referee announced 70 as being eligible. I guess Belle could have ignored that and taken the chance they would have called illegal formation but he was covering the guy that they called eligible

 

[Roadtrip635]

Wow so the ineligible player was left uncovered? Amazing!

 

[Boyzmamacita]

Isn't Bell the one who got the interception on the Micah penalty? Bell did his job that whole two point series.

 

[lwehlers]

i still could not believe that after the first time the lions failed that they did not take the game to overtime. if they would have had the ball first i think they would have scored another touchdown the cowboys defense was done in my opinion they would not have stopped the lions from scoring again.

 

[starfan1]

Regardless of all the confusion. The tripping penalty which would have essentially ended the game. The misreporting of the eligible player, no matter if it were a mistake, or a purposeful action to confuse the Cowboys. The not using the time left during the time out by the refs to correct the eligibility issue. Two plays that followed which were stifled by the Cowboys.

The bottom line is this. Detroit should have ceded the mistake and kicked the field goal to tie the game and take it to overtime. All the whining by the talking heads, Lion's team, and Lion's fans doesn't change the fact the real mistake was not getting it to over time.

With the ease it appears to have happened that the Lions traveled the field to get onto position to score, the best shot would have been to take the extra point and then go and win the game.

They chose poorly and got what that decision - decisions wrought.

Ya all this attention on that play is overblown

 

[MarcusRock]

The defense did what I would expect a defense to do. They pointed out that 70 was announced as eligible and they made sure they had coverage on him.

And that's great. I'd want a thinking defense that recognized they didn't have to be on him anymore and could make a quick adjustment to that effect. In this example, they could have shifted to their left since all the other actual eligible receivers were on that side, including the RB I mentioned who had a good chance to score otherwise.

 

[jazzcat22]

This is more so why I was frustrated when people saying refs cheated etc.

no. You tried to overthink this and in the end it bit you

Correct they tried to cheat. As the other idea no one mentioned yet, or I missed it.
By trying to trick the refs. Goff would have thrown it to 70 or 68. Whoever was open. Then see if the refs caught mom or not.

Say if 68 was covered by accident or did not run the route correctly then he simply tosses it to 70, who was covered.

it was an attempt to circumvent the rules. And it failed.