NFL Blames Lions Not Refs

[TheMarathonContinues]

Again you don’t know what was said by 68 do you? What if he told Allen happy new year and walked away, while 70 actually declared? Do you have audio proof of what Decker said?

I've seen nothing to suggest that Allen was told the wrong number. Allen hasn't said that. NFL hasn't said it. If he was told 70 and it was 68? I'd agree and change my stance.

 

[Hoofbite]

Surely nothing negative will ever come as a result of chalking up outcomes to “official confusion”.

Now NFL coaches have to ensure officials know how to do their jobs? lol, okay.

At this point, just bring back the sub refs and they can mediate agreed upon penalties and outcomes negotiated by each team’s coaching staff.

 

[DripTooHard]

No we won't. Let's say for the sake of argument the ref announced the wrong guy. The operative word being ANNOUNCED.. As in notified everybody in the stadium that #70 was eligible and by extension #68 was not. What were the Lions coaches doing when they heard the announcement? My guess is they were celebrating because they thought they'd gotten away with one. Because they didn't understand the rule. I guarantee you that if Campbell went over this "play" step by step and explained that "the goal is to get you to announce the wrong guy and not announce the right guy so the defense will leave him wide open" the refs would have explained to him that that was illegal.

Exactly!

 

[TheMarathonContinues]

This has blown up for 3 reasons:

1. The size of the audience who saw it and the importance of the game.
2. The seemingly insane amount of bad calls this season deciding games.
3. The outright dishonesty and insultingly dumb excuses the NFL keeps making.

1 and 2 speak for themselves but 3 is why this isn’t a 1 day story. The fact that they tried to say 68 never reported and 70 did was laughable. We had video of Goff telling 68 to report, 68 going up to the ref and the ref signaling that the report was good all while 70 is on the opposite side of the field.

Now this is their second attempt to cover it up and it still sounds stupid. Just come out and say you got it wrong, he thought it was 70, and it was a mistake. Anything else is an insult to the intelligence of the fans and just makes it worse.

I agree. We've seen bad calls all year. I don't get the big deal in admitting a mistake and moving on. Instead, they do this crap and just make it worse.

 

[TheMarathonContinues]

ONCE AGAIN ... 70 reported, 68 did not, in the normal accepted way.

Lions say they reported 68 though. On film we see Goff tell 68 to go over there.

 

[csirl]

I don"t buy that the officials agreed to allow the deception after it was discussed pregame. Deliberate deception as to who's eligible is like the old "hide out" play - it could potentially be a 15yd unsportsmanlike penalty. Lions were lucky to get only 5yd penalty.

The Lions coach may well have checked if the formation was legal pregame - and the officials may have said yes, but I doubt they said the deception was ok.

 

[MountaineerCowboy]

If they are really going to go with the "trying to deceive" approach then motions, disguised defenses, and trick plays need to be banned.

If they really think the Lions were trying to cheat then fine em and show us you're serious.

At the end of the day somebody was getting screwed over by the ref calling out the wrong number. I'm just glad for once it wasn't the Cowboys.

 

[Brax]

No we won't. Let's say for the sake of argument the ref announced the wrong guy. The operative word being ANNOUNCED.. As in notified everybody in the stadium that #70 was eligible and by extension #68 was not. What were the Lions coaches doing when they heard the announcement? My guess is they were celebrating because they thought they'd gotten away with one. Because they didn't understand the rule. I guarantee you that if Campbell went over this "play" step by step and explained that "the goal is to get you to announce the wrong guy and not announce the right guy so the defense will leave him wide open" the refs would have explained to him that that was illegal.

I don’t believe it’s the lions job to correct the refs mistakes. What bothers me the most is why in gods name did it take forever to throw the flags. Also if the refs knew #68 was ineligible why wasn’t he flagged for being illegally down field during the play I he was 10 yards past the los. I forgot happy new year

 

[Xeven]

Hate to win on a ref screw up. How many minutes were left after the two points? I do not feel bad though because poor officiating has caused plenty of Cowboys losses. We have a FG kicker who could hit at 70 yards so if that was not last seconds of game then there was good reason to believe. Owboys would have had opportunity to get a FG and win.

 

[SpaceCowboy99]

All you guys are so concerned with defending the cowboys and making sure it seems like a clear win for them. Bottom line, they got lucky and we're going to lose that game.

But because they got lucky and the eagles are collapsing, everyone thinks this is the turn of the coin for the cowboys.

It's not, same story, they will collapse in the playoffs.

 

[TheMarathonContinues]

But he did not report the wrong number. Watch the film. 70 came running making a beeline to the ref. Brushing his jersey to say...I am reporting as eligible. As where the other 2 OL were just standing there doing nothing. Sure Decker said he reported, but merely saying it in a very loud stadium does not mean the ref heard him.

Are you hurt that Dallas won or something?

#70 never said anything about reporting. 68 is the one who reported.

And I'm not hurt the Cowboys won. Not at all. Don't be silly. I've been on this site for years when is my MO to be "anti" Cowboys? Disagree with me if you want but don't question my fandom just because I don't agree with you.

My stance is keep the same energy. If this was the Cowboys I'd be PISSED. You all would be pissed at the officials. Nobody will admit it. I will.

My stance is Lions have their share in the blame because they "confused" the official. My stance is the official shouldn't be "confused". If he's "confused" then he's the problem. Not the Lions.

I'm pro hold the officials accountable. We harp on them missing the Hendershot tripping call. You guys understand that but don't understand their incompetence in reporting the wrong number? I don't understand. Well, no I do. I can be a Cowboy fan but officials need to take accountability for their mistake.

 

[DripTooHard]

I've seen nothing to suggest that Allen was told the wrong number. Allen hasn't said that. NFL hasn't said it. If he was told 70 and it was 68? I'd agree and change my stance.

He said he was told 70. It is all over Twitter

 

[TheMarathonContinues]

All you guys are so concerned with defending the cowboys and making sure it seems like a clear win for them. Bottom line, they got lucky and we're going to lose that game.

But because they got lucky and the eagles are collapsing, everyone thinks this is the turn of the coin for the cowboys.

It's not, same story, they will collapse in the playoffs.

That's where I disagree. Cowboys had enough time to go and get a field goal. If I'm not mistaken we had 2 timeouts and what? 30 seconds? Plenty of time. They didn't need 7 they just needed to get in field goal range for Aubrey who hasn't missed a kick.

But I can also admit the refs screwed up here. And it benefited us. Oh well I don't care. These type of wins are good.

 

[The Quest for Six]

This has blown up for 3 reasons:

1. The size of the audience who saw it and the importance of the game.
2. The seemingly insane amount of bad calls this season deciding games.
3. The outright dishonesty and insultingly dumb excuses the NFL keeps making.

1 and 2 speak for themselves but 3 is why this isn’t a 1 day story. The fact that they tried to say 68 never reported and 70 did was laughable. We had video of Goff telling 68 to report, 68 going up to the ref and the ref signaling that the report was good all while 70 is on the opposite side of the field.

Now this is their second attempt to cover it up and it still sounds stupid. Just come out and say you got it wrong, he thought it was 70, and it was a mistake. Anything else is an insult to the intelligence of the fans and just makes it worse.

Exactly, thank you for being objective, the video was clear the ref screwed up...

 

[Proximo]

How exactly will you “be sneaky” when the ref HAS TO tell the defense 68 is eligible? How exactly are you hiding that fact?

And that is exactly why this “trick” play is such a dumb concept anyway.

The referee has to announce who is declaring as eligible. So either they announce #68 and the defense accounts for him and he’s not open, OR they confuse the refs and end up with the result they got Saturday night.
The Lions are not victims here. They tried to game the rules and it backfired.

 

[TheMarathonContinues]

He said he was told 70. It is all over Twitter

Lions say they told him 68 and film shows Jared Goff telling 68 to report. Allen if he is saying that is probably lying. Because if he did that why did he get demoted and his crew?

 

[Brax]

“Campbell said he told the officiating crew about the possibility of the play before the game, but Florio reports Allen wasn’t present during that meeting.”

That’s one guy’s opinion based on a source, who knows and at this point it doesn’t matter, nobody will ever convince Lions fans the were screwed and Cowboys fans will say great call

 

[The Quest for Six]

And that is exactly why this “trick” play is such a dumb concept anyway.

The referee has to announce who is declaring as eligible. So either they announce #68 and the defense accounts for him and he’s not open, OR they confuse the refs and end up with the result they got Saturday night.
The Lions are not victims here. They tried to game the rules and it backfired.

68 reported, the dumb ref stated 70 reported when video evidence is clear 70 didn't, the lions were a victim of a horrible ref's call of reporting 70 eligible when 68 reported to the ref he was the eligible one..

 

[TheMarathonContinues]

How exactly will you “be sneaky” when the ref HAS TO tell the defense 68 is eligible? How exactly are you hiding that fact?

The ref reported the wrong number didn't he? They reported the wrong number due to the confusion. Which is why he was wide open.

 

[DripTooHard]

Lions say they told him 68 and film shows Jared Goff telling 68 to report. Allen if he is saying that is probably lying. Because if he did that why did he get demoted and his crew?

But did 68 actually declare? He walked over there with 58? When asked if he declared, Decker said “I did what the coaches told me to do”

Interesting word choices…