Dan Campbell admits the Lions were trying to confuse the Cowboys

[cald0d30s0]

yip...they had been killing us with their 2 backs and they could have ran the ball or simply kicked it. DC was outcoached really.Many will attack me for suggesting this but lets go back to our last drive...yeah MM passed when MAYBE we should have run it, thus run some clock...but he chose to take the fg and extend the lead to 7. Turns out that was the right move. Lets remember, the guys in the booth wanted us to go for it on 4th down and 6. It appeared we were, but we tried to draw them offsides. Then we kicked it. MM did the right thing in that sitch. If he doesnt, and we don't get the first down, we lose this game and I'm confident in that given the way they drove down the field on us. DC beat himself with the help of MM. Not the refs.

Perfectly explained. To be honest, I thought they were just going to run it and thats it. But thankfully DC thought he was playing Madden.

 

[FanofJerry]

I know there were multiple penalties on the play...illegal formation, ineligible receiver...but would 68 be illegal man downfield too?

 

[Thorn]

They blew the number call as you put it due to the deception on Detroits part. There is no way at all 68 made it clear he was eligible. If he had, he would have been announced. He downplayed himself on purpose while 70 made the hand jesture as he was running in. There simply is no way 68 made it clear he was eligible and the ref just forgot or decide to say 70 instead. Whatever those 3 OL did, the ref interpreted it as 70 was eligible. He did not just decide to announce the wrong player. Detroits whole plan was to deceive Dallas and ended up deceiving the ref as well. Their attempt to cheat bit them in the butt. That’s called getting what you deserve.

I agree but can.t let the Dallas defense off the hook that easy. These coaches and players are professionals and should be able to identify eligible receivers by formation alignment. How did the coaches in the box miss 70 being covered and 68 in an eligible position? How did the secondary and LBers not identify this? College and high school defenses have to identify who is eligible by alignment and I would expect professionals to be able to do the same.
I know the rules are different for the NFL and lineman can report as eligible, but have some football awareness and make adjustment. lack of attention to detail.

 

[Pass2Run]

He didn’t need to admit it… everybody already knew it.

Yep, what I gathered when I saw the replay.

 

[john van brocklin]

The loins tried to get cute and it bit them in the butt.

 

[TheMarathonContinues]

exactly, wrong number or not, the eligible OL on the play is who the refs report to the defense..throwing it to another guy is a penalty..period.

I keep hearing this argument that it’s the heat of the moment and Lions didn’t hear the number called. The dumbest argument I’ve heard. So how did the Cowboys hear the number because they clearly had someone guarding the lineman announced.

 

[Surfguy]

They couldn't execute straight-up cause they know we stick it to them.

 

[MarcusRock]

70 should have just run to the huddle. Coach told him to run to the ref and fake eligible himself but don't say a word. But, ref was faked out and took him as eligible while 68 was trying to mumble before that "psss...hey...i'm....e...l...i...g...i...b...l...e....but let's keep it on the down-low okay cause we're trying to sneak me back there uncovered because we think they are dopes who will think 70 is the one getting the ball when really i am. okay...we cool? this other guy is here next to me just because he is the other decoy. let's do this!").

The way I would have done it is have 70 sprint to the 2 players who were talking with the ref and just put his arm around 58 or 68 or something as if to communicate a play. But he ran out the way he always runs out to report as eligible I'm guessing and that's what probably fooled the ref.

 

[Rayman70]

Perfectly explained. To be honest, I thought they were just going to run it and thats it. But thankfully DC thought he was playing Madden.

exactly, well said

 

[Cowboys22]

I agree but can.t let the Dallas defense off the hook that easy. These coaches and players are professionals and should be able to identify eligible receivers by formation alignment. How did the coaches in the box miss 70 being covered and 68 in an eligible position? How did the secondary and LBers not identify this? College and high school defenses have to identify who is eligible by alignment and I would expect professionals to be able to do the same.
I know the rules are different for the NFL and lineman can report as eligible, but have some football awareness and make adjustment. lack of attention to detail.

Doesn’t matter. Once 70 is announced and the ball is snapped, 68 cannot catch a pass even if he line up in an eligible manner. There simply is no reason for a defense to account for an ineligible player. If one catches a pass, it will be a penalty.

 

[Cowboys22]

I know there were multiple penalties on the play...illegal formation, ineligible receiver...but would 68 be illegal man downfield too?

Yes but illegal touching incorporates that.

 

[Lutonio]

Did anyone listen to Detroit sports talk shows, or read any articles on the fans reactions. About the sequence of events and about Campbell's decisions.

Only browsing through their Reddit sub. It’s what you would expect with righteous indignation, the NFL is rigged, this is what happens when the NfL gets in bed with gambling, we should stop watching — the usual.

Have you been checking those out? Anything that stands out?

 

[MarcusRock]

that's the part that annoys me most! If 68 had been declared, we'd have lined up differently, probably no catch, game over but it's being glossed over by the media that it was 2 points lost.

no......it.........wasn't. If Dallas were told 68 was the man, the whole *****ing thing would have played out differently based on Dallas covering 68.

Why on Earth are the media ignoring this KEY part?

Because if the right number is reported, you can run through your progressions knowing whatever option you pick is legal. Say Bell covered 68 like he did 70 (unnecessarily but that's another discussion). Goff could have read coverage there and tossed to the back who only had to beat 1 man to the pylon even with the botched number call.

 

[Cowboys22]

exactly, wrong number or not, the eligible OL on the play is who the refs report to the defense..throwing it to another guy is a penalty..period.

Well, not really. In this case the player announced actually ended up in a position that was not eligible. They had no eligible OL on the play. Had 70 actually gone out on a pass and caught it, it would have been illegal formation because he was covered by 58 who motioned in from the slot.

 

[The Quest for Six]

They blew the number call as you put it due to the deception on Detroits part. There is no way at all 68 made it clear he was eligible. If he had, he would have been announced. He downplayed himself on purpose while 70 made the hand jesture as he was running in. There simply is no way 68 made it clear he was eligible and the ref just forgot or decide to say 70 instead. Whatever those 3 OL did, the ref interpreted it as 70 was eligible. He did not just decide to announce the wrong player. Detroits whole plan was to deceive Dallas and ended up deceiving the ref as well. Their attempt to cheat bit them in the butt. That’s called getting what you deserve.

70 made no hand jesture, he's jogging in, the ref seen 70 jogging in and assumed he was the eligible since he was the eligible previous during the game....by the time he gets to 68, the ref is five yard heading to notify the defense.... this nonsense about deception when the eligible player has to be announced to the defense., where's the cheating part???.......again common sense, 68 leaves huddle and is gesturing and talking to the ref,he's one foot in front of the ref, 70 didn't talk to the ref, never got within five yards of the ref, didn't run a pattern or catch a pass, lined up ineligible, he never left the line of scrimmage, pretty dumb to be eligible if you're not in the pattern, don't you think??

 

[Rayman70]

People just wont let this die. The hatred runs deep..even among alleged Dallas fans on the board.

 

[CowboyFrog]

I keep hearing this argument that it’s the heat of the moment and Lions didn’t hear the number called. The dumbest argument I’ve heard. So how did the Cowboys hear the number because they clearly had someone guarding the lineman announced.

Imagine the heat our team would be getting for throwing the ball to an OL who was not reported, and there would be no response for it....

 

[CowboyFrog]

70 made no hand jesture, he's jogging in, the ref seen 70 jogging in and assumed he was the eligible since he was the eligible previous during the game....by the time he gets to 68, the ref is five yard heading to notify the defense.... this nonsense about deception when the eligible player has to be announced to the defense., where's the cheating part???.......again common sense, 68 leaves huddle and is gesturing and talking to the ref,he's one foot in front of the ref, 70 didn't talk to the ref, never got within five yards of the ref, didn't run a pattern or catch a pass, lined up ineligible, he never left the line of scrimmage, pretty dumb to be eligible if you're not in the pattern, don't you think??

I mean the HC has admitted they were trying to create confusion..but tell me more..

 

[Rayman70]

Imagine the heat our team would be getting for throwing the ball to an OL who was not reported, and there would be no response for it....

exactly. It would be "state of the union" on all the sports channels right now concerning Dallas.

 

[Cowboys22]

70 made no hand jesture, he's jogging in, the ref seen 70 jogging in and assumed he was the eligible since he was the eligible previous during the game....by the time he gets to 68, the ref is five yard heading to notify the defense.... this nonsense about deception when the eligible player has to be announced to the defense., where's the cheating part???.......again common sense, 68 leaves huddle and is gesturing and talking to the ref,he's one foot in front of the ref, 70 didn't talk to the ref, never got within five yards of the ref, didn't run a pattern or catch a pass, lined up ineligible, he never left the line of scrimmage, pretty dumb to be eligible if you're not in the pattern, don't you think??

Yes 70 did but you go on with your crap on everything Dallas routine. There simply is no way 68 made it clear yet the ref said 70 by mistake. Detroit and the NFL have already admitted that the plan was deception so that right there tells you 68 did something other than make it perfectly clear he was eligible.