Jerry Jones hit the nail on the head

[acr731]

They were not fooled, 70 was announced eligible and that was who they planned for and covered.

My thought as well. 70 was announced as the eligible receiver by the ref, who then announced it on the PA and told the defense. 1 of 2 things happened, either Detroit announced the wrong number, or the refs mistakenly assumed it was going to be 70 again. 70 wasn't even in the convo between 58, 68,and the ref. The latter is more likely given how Detroit lined up on the LOS.

 

[jazzcat22]

well to be fair Stafford is in LA so he is clear on this one.. I know what you meant..

Thanks, I will go back and fix it.

 

[Dale]

Man! The Jimmy curse must really be lifted if the words "Jerry Jones hit the nail on the head" can now be uttered.

 

[acr731]

Would argue then if there’s no reason for 68 to go over to the ref like Troy and Buck suggest unless he was reporting then why did 58 go over as well and then 70 come running up as well? It was all to deceive the defense which is ok. When you run deceptive plays though you better make sure you have all your ducks correctly in a row which involves making sure the ref announces the correct player eligible.

But where is the deception when the ref announces the eligible receiver on the PA and tells the defense to their faces who it's going to be?

 

[CCBoy]

OmerV is one of the most level posters on this site, i get his logic here but i do find it hard to believe they didnt hear the announcment also.

You attempt to cheat...you're guilty. Nothing further than that. Their head coach confessed to as much. Now play with words to make cheating correct.

Ain't NO right way to do the WRONG thing....ever. Ever grow up?

 

[CowboysFaninHouston]

Have to admit Jerry is correct on this one. Jerry Jones clarifying something is scary. Let me look outside and make sure pigs aren't flying.

oh, that explains the pink things flying up in sky around our house...

 

[CowboyFrog]

You attempt to cheat...you're guilty. Nothing further than that. Their head coach confessed to as much. Now play with words to make cheating correct.

Ain't NO right way to do the WRONG thing....ever. Ever grow up?

ok

 

[Beaker42]

I want to see the angle of Skipper running onto the field toward their little huddle of deceit. Seeing him making the universal reporting gesture would end all this.

 

[acr731]

When you send 3 OL to the ref, it is purposely trying to cause confusion to Dallas, as Detroit admitted to that. But it is also trying to confuse the officials.

Goff probably was told throw it to which ever OL was open. Therefore trying to make any one of the 3 eligible In some tricky crap, cheating style. Hoping the refs did not catch on.

I get that, but the ONLY eligible person announced was 70. I would have an easier time believing the deception part if the refs weren't required to announce the eligible receiver. Dallas knew exactly who the eligible person was, which is who they covered. You can't have more than 1 eligible receiver announced as far as I know, so I just don't see the trickery when Dallas was told who to cover before the play..

 

[CowboyFrog]

I get that, but the ONLY eligible person announced was 70. I would have an easier time believing the deception part if the refs weren't required to announce the eligible receiver. Dallas knew exactly who the eligible person was, which is who they covered. You can't have more than 1 eligible receiver announced as far as I know, so I just don't see the trickery when Dallas was told who to cover before the play..

this i agree on, the concept of it is flawed because the D does not have to guess at who is eligible they are told by the refs...they tried deception but again with how the rules are it would take the D completley ignoring what the refs said for it to work...throwing the ball to an OL who was clearly not announced was pretty dumb.

 

[Vtwin]

dallas was fooled (they did not cover decker) the refs were not. One of the few sterling examples of officiating this year.

This is where your argument falls apart. Dallas was not fooled. They reacted to what was announced by the official. If the official had announced 68 as eligible the defense would have reacted to that.

You're making way to much of the ethical aspect of Campbell's attempt at some gamemanship. There was really no way it could have worked unless the Cowboys completely screwed the pooch which is very unlikely.

 

[jazzcat22]

I get that, but the ONLY eligible person announced was 70. I would have an easier time believing the deception part if the refs weren't required to announce the eligible receiver. Dallas knew exactly who the eligible person was, which is who they covered. You can't have more than 1 eligible receiver announced as far as I know, so I just don't see the trickery when Dallas was told who to cover before the play..

Right. I guess some can’t get over it though, because Detroit claims 68 reported. But all the video shows it looks as if 70 reported.

 

[Starstruck22]

I'm not understanding how it's cheating when the ref has to announce who is eligible. Maybe they were expecting the refs to not notice who actually ran the route and caught the ball?

Bingo, all deception to defraud….it happens all the time. But all unscrupulous.

 

[JustChip]

I see no problem with the theatrics of sending 3 guys at the ref hoping to confuse Dallas. But...they designate and announce over the intercom for a reason...its still worth a shot, imo.

I agree. It’s only cheating if the rules say only the player reporting as eligible can approach or be within x feet of the official. We need a rules expert like @MarcusRock to chime in.

 

[CowboyFrog]

I agree. It’s only cheating if the rules say only the player reporting as eligible can approach or be within x feet of the official. We need a rules expert like @MarcusRock to chime in.

he has but in a diferent thread.. the only rule broken was the formation and who caught the pass both because of who the refs reported as eligible..

 

[Starstruck22]

This is where your argument falls apart. Dallas was not fooled. They reacted to what was announced by the official. If the official had announced 68 as eligible the defense would have reacted to that.

You're making way to much of the ethical aspect of Campbell's attempt at some gamemanship. There was really no way it could have worked unless the Cowboys completely screwed the pooch which is very unlikely.

What i meant was dallas did not cover decker, which is where the ball was going. The plan was to obfuscate and confuse the refs as well. All unscrupulous.

 

[Starstruck22]

I agree. It’s only cheating if the rules say only the player reporting as eligible can approach or be within x feet of the official. We need a rules expert like @MarcusRock to chime in.

Any attempt to win by subverting the rules is cheating. This was an obvious attempt to prevent dallas from knowing the eligible reciever. What are you not getting???

 

[Jumbo075]

Of course they did. Campbell tried but was unsuccessful in DECEIVING cheating.

---

.

Fixed it for you.

He obviously didn't get away with any cheating.

 

[Jumbo075]

The nfl needs to realize this is going to happen again. Here is the new rule. “If any Coach or team seeks to subvert any well established rule, they will be sanctioned, fined, and repeated offenses terminated.” This will go a long way to prevent Danny boy or others from doing this. This is not an nfl first because bellichick tried to steal calls and deflate balls and should have been terminated.

NO. Just enforce the rules - which the referees did. End of story. No need for rule changes. The existing rules worked just fine. Ignore the temper tantrums of the talking heads, and also the Lions and their fans. Dallas won the game straight up. The Lions tired to deceive. It didn't work. The proper foul was called (even if talking head and fans don't understand that), and the resullt was a penalty. The Lions had a choice at that point to try to kick the PAT to go into overtime. Instead they attempted two more times to get a 2-point conversion. Bottom line, is they had three opportunities to kick an extra point to go into overtime.

1st try - a 2-point conversion failed due to a foul on the Lions - properly called and enforced by the referees.
2nd try - a 2-point conversion failed, but a penalty on the Cowboys - properly called and enforced by the referees - negated the play, resulting in
3rd try - a 2-point conversion failed due to poor execution by the Lions and good defense by the Cowboys.

Result: Cowboys won the game. No asterisk needed. They are now the 2nd seed in the NFC, and can maintain that position with a win on Sunday against the expansion team Commanders, who have the 2nd worst record in the NFL.

Unnecessary overreaction: Rule changes preventing coaches from trying to deceive their opponents. Deception is part of the game. The Referees prevented deception outside of the rules by enforcing existing rules. Therefore, what is needed is for referees to continue to properly enforce the rules, as they did in the Lions/Cowboys game. No rule changes are necessary.

 

[Starstruck22]

But where is the deception when the ref announces the eligible receiver on the PA and tells the defense to their faces who it's going to be?

You are missing the forrest for the trees dude. The intent of campbell was not to have decker come in report and then let dallas know and have decker catching the winning play. That was not the intent.