NFL Blames Lions Not Refs

[Redsfan_83]

That does change things up. If you have one player coming up to you and saying, "Report," while another player who has been reporting as eligible makes it seem like he's reporting while multiple players are going to the ref, it's hard to blame the official for getting confused, especially if he had no prior knowledge of this planned trick.

Like I said, I would be mad too if the play got flagged and my guys reported right, but it's easy to understand the confusion and the wrong number being announced as eligible gave Detroit an illegal advantage.

true, but DC was adamant that he had a pre game chat with the refs discussing these types of plays...clearly he lied about it

 

[lwehlers]

the nfl will never admit that there is a problem with there officiating.

 

[gimmesix]

Maybe, but this wasn't the right situation to do that. The clock is stopped, there is no rush to hurry alignments, this is a huge moment in the game and the defense is going to be hyper aware and communicate what's going on. It might have been a good call on the drive to score when they were in hurry-up mode, but not this situation.

Maybe not, but they clearly were saving this play for this exact kind of situation, so they wanted to use it. They were taking a chance that they could confuse Dallas and instead confused the official.

 

[buybuydandavis]

“You’re not going to believe this, but the NFL is blaming the Lions for a blown call that cost them a win vs. the Cowboys on Saturday night.

According to Pro Football Talk’s Mike Florio, the NFL has no plans to change the rules on players reporting as eligible after Saturday night’s fiasco in Dallas. And it’s not placing blame on the refs.

“Per a source with knowledge of the situation, the NFL does not plan to change the procedure for players reporting as eligible. The league views the situation as an effort by the Lions to engage in deception and gamesmanship that backfired,” Florio said.

“Basically, the Lions wanted the Cowboys to think Skipper was reporting as eligible and that Decker was not. Which would have caused the Cowboys to cover Skipper, not Decker, when the play unfolded. The problem is that, in trying to confuse the Cowboys, the Lions confused Allen.”


Full Story Here:
https://www.clickondetroit.com/spor...call-on-2-point-play-vs-cowboys-not-the-refs/

They *should* change the reporting rules to prevent such "miscommunications".

Should be a request by the HC to the side judge, which then is announced to the stadium.

None of this multiple players running around the ref.

I would note that they initially said they weren't going to change the rules on the UnCatch too. And then they did. They will here too. Saying that they aren't changing the rules is just a way to double down on "not our fault".

 

[windward]

From everything I've seen and read the ref assumed 70 was the one declaring based on what had been happening prior to the play. If there's proof of something else happening then I'll change my stance on that but it's clear to me the Lions were trying to catch everyone off guard including the Cowboys.....it worked except they confused the ref as well who screwed up.

The responsibility is always with the player to ensure the referee understands him.

 

[TheMarathonContinues]

The responsibility is always with the player to ensure the referee understands him.

Clearly. But ref still screwed up lol.

 

[gimmesix]

true, but DC was adamant that he had a pre game chat with the refs discussing these types of plays...clearly he lied about it

I don't think the fact that he didn't talk to Allen means that Campbell didn't talk to the officials about it. I'm not willing to say he lied. He could have thought whatever he did pregame took care of it and he just turned out to be wrong.

 

[Pantone282C]

“You’re not going to believe this, but the NFL is blaming the Lions for a blown call that cost them a win vs. the Cowboys on Saturday night.

According to Pro Football Talk’s Mike Florio, the NFL has no plans to change the rules on players reporting as eligible after Saturday night’s fiasco in Dallas. And it’s not placing blame on the refs.

“Per a source with knowledge of the situation, the NFL does not plan to change the procedure for players reporting as eligible. The league views the situation as an effort by the Lions to engage in deception and gamesmanship that backfired,” Florio said.

“Basically, the Lions wanted the Cowboys to think Skipper was reporting as eligible and that Decker was not. Which would have caused the Cowboys to cover Skipper, not Decker, when the play unfolded. The problem is that, in trying to confuse the Cowboys, the Lions confused Allen.”


Full Story Here:
https://www.clickondetroit.com/spor...call-on-2-point-play-vs-cowboys-not-the-refs/

Serves 'em right.

 

[buybuydandavis]

Maybe not, but they clearly were saving this play for this exact kind of situation, so they wanted to use it. They were taking a chance that they could confuse Dallas and instead confused the official.

It's unclear that the official was "confused".
What's clear is that there was a failure to communicate.

 

[Roadtrip635]

If this is the case then why is the NFL punishing their game officials???? I guess they want their cake and eat it too......LOL!

Maybe it's about the optics. The NFL is always hyperaware of their image and the perception of the public. Maybe the ref was wrong, maybe he wasn't, but it's still their job to make sure everyone is clear even if one side is intentionally trying to deceive the other. Throw in the badly called tripping penalty, it wasn't a good job.

 

[Lutonio]

For people commenting on the crew demotion, this crew has been on the grill for bad calls for weeks. It’s not just the conversion confusion. Schefter was reporting about them being on the hot seat maybe six weeks ago.

 

[CowboyStar88]

I think so, and I'd feel the same if it were our team even though I wouldn't be happy about it. There were multiple aspects to this attempt at deception and it's understandably that an official, who was not complicit in drawing up the deception, might get confused by it. I know the Lions said they talked to the official about it ahead of time, but they had weeks or months to draw it up while the officials had a few minutes to digest it. Now, should it have been hard ... not really, but there are a lot of things happening on the field that the refs have to process in the moment, that one was unable to get this right isn't nearly the same as missing a normal call that the officials are trained to make.

It came out that Allen was not part of this meeting with the Lions where they talked about this play. I would think the head ref and guy who generally calls that penalty should’ve been involved with that meeting. I think that led to DC frustrated you can’t have 2 report as eligible statement. As it was Allen who told him after the penalty you can’t have 2 guys report. I think if Allen was involved from the get go at that meeting he tells DC thats a no-no. I think it’s an odd argument. So they expect the refs to recognize late in the game that THIS was the play the Lions were talking to them about earlier in the week? With Allen having no knowledge. Someone has to take some responsibility here.

 

[MarcusRock]

I love how you think you have defeated many here even though you haven't. This wasn't a missed call, or refusal to call holding, this was a deliberate attempt by Ogre to deceive, then his hubris wouldn't allow him to notice 70 was announced, and then he lied about the ref saying the play was fine in a meeting.

Defeated? Who is even saying that? Not me. And we don't know if it was a missed call or not. Seems like it was a reporting scheme by Detroit, but a legal one. And it's completely possible the refs messed it up. Were you or anyone else present with Detroit staff to know they didn't have a meeting with refs prior to the game to know that Campbell was lying? Have refs themselves said he didn't bring up the topic with them to even bring up the possibility it was a lie? Or is this what you're supposing because it would be convenient?

 

[MarcusRock]

For people commenting on the crew demotion, this crew has been on the grill for bad calls for weeks. It’s not just the conversion confusion. Schefter was reporting about them being on the hot seat maybe six weeks ago.

It's the same crew that missed the blatant pass interference in the GB/KC game that most likely cost KC that game.

 

[CowboyStar88]

true, but DC was adamant that he had a pre game chat with the refs discussing these types of plays...clearly he lied about it

He was being deceptive about it for sure. Yes, he had a convo with refs about it, but Allen the head ref who be the one to call that penalty was not involved in that convo. The whole thing just seems not to be on the up and up.

 

[MarcusRock]

Fair enough. Comment on the tripping call?

That would be off topic in this thread. Don't want to get thread banned because this is another rich one that I want to be part of. Lol.

 

[TheHerd]

That would be off topic in this thread. Don't want to get thread banned because this is another rich one that I want to be part of. Lol.

Fair enough. Ive watched a lot more other teams games this year, and I do think the NFL refs are just trash, and the rules make it even harder. At a minimum it’s time for full time officials

 

[Pantone282C]

Yeah but why would they though? The whole point is to be sneaky so the linemen is open like he was. It's to catch the defense off guard like they did.

Maybe, but isn't the whole thing predicated on the official being notified as to the eligible player, and then the official notifying the defense as to the specific player's eligibility? They could cover the eligible player. The whole Lions team could trout out there, and it wouldn't matter.

 

[TheMarathonContinues]

Maybe, but isn't the whole thing predicated on the official being notified as to the eligible player, and then the official notifying the defense as to the specific player's eligibility? They could cover the eligible player. The whole Lions team could trout out there, and it wouldn't matter.

That’s the part I don’t know. Was the plan for them to get confused or call the wrong number or did they hear the wrong number and thought they got one over on them.

 

[schweigster]

I disagree. Missing a call is one thing, but calling it on the OTHER team is something else entirely.

Agreed. There are missed calls all the time, but to make a call on the completely opposite team is on another level. Honestly, I think that is worse than the 2 point conversion mishap.