Twitter: Referee Brad Allen on the 2 point conversion Illegal Touch call

[tm1119]

The NFL rules are designed to be fair to both the offense and defense.

That's why you cannot huddle with one player and then they run off the field and another run on the field before the play gets called because that is illegal substitution.

That is also why you see the referees delay the snap by standing between the quarterback and center for a few seconds when the offense substituted players and the defense has not yet done so.

The reason players have to report as eligible instead of everyone being eligible is because the linemen's numbers dictate to the defense what their role is.

If the non-eligible players report as eligible, then the defense has to be informed so they can change their defense if they want to account for it.

The Lions were likely hoping to confuse the Cowboys by sending three linemen to talk to the referee, but the referee walked over and told the defense (as they should) who was eligible (#70 in this case), so the defense planned for that.

Either through intention or incompetence, they tried to game the system and it backfired.

Had the referee understood #68 was eligible then he would have told the Cowboys defense who in turn would have had someone cover #68 in case he ran a route.

The media and non-Cowboys fans are ranting about the unfair conversion called back, but the reality is that it likely would have not worked had the referee announced #68 was eligible.

I’m not disagreeing on anything you’re saying other than the referee not deserving any blame. The way it was called on the field put the Cowboys D at a huge disadvantage for sure. The conversation is about whether or not the Lions did the right thing and the referee botched it and announced the wrong #.

I just have a hard time believing that Decker was standing right next to the referee and even appeared to say something to him, but didn’t report as eligible.
I also haven’t actually seen evidence that Skipper (#70) declared himself as eligible. Somehow with all of the cameras in the stadium the only angle we have of Skipper running onto the field is from behind. If I see evidence of him making the “eligible” hand single it would change my opinion

 

[tm1119]

Yeah it’s weird that Campbell never clarified that it wasn’t 2 guys reported but only 1. Just said that 2 guys can’t report eligible. I’m just guessing but think Lions plan was to report 2 guys eligible (looked like 68 rubbed his jersey number and 70 was doing the same as he was running over) then when Sewell motioned from slot to the line at RT it would make 70 ineligible canceling him out making 68 the 5th eligible receiver. When the ref only named 70 as eligible that made 68 ineligible.

#70 never even reached the referee tho. He was still 5 yards away as the referee was turning towards the cowboys D. If both #68 and #70 were in the refs ear chatting to him I could see your argument that he got confused but that just wasn’t the case. Hell, even if Sewell was announced as the 1 eligible instead of #70 I could see the argument because Sewell was also there. But when you look at the picture below and see that #70 was the only guy reported as eligible by the ref…it’s a bit weird right?

 

[Reality]

Yeah it’s weird that Campbell never clarified that it wasn’t 2 guys reported but only 1. Just said that 2 guys can’t report eligible. I’m just guessing but think Lions plan was to report 2 guys eligible (looked like 68 rubbed his jersey number and 70 was doing the same as he was running over) then when Sewell motioned from slot to the line at RT it would make 70 ineligible canceling him out making 68 the 5th eligible receiver. When the ref only named 70 as eligible that made 68 ineligible.

Actually I don't think there is a limit on the number of reported eligible receivers

I’m not disagreeing on anything you’re saying other than the referee not deserving any blame. The way it was called on the field put the Cowboys D at a huge disadvantage for sure. The conversation is about whether or not the Lions did the right thing and the referee botched it and announced the wrong #.

I just have a hard time believing that Decker was standing right next to the referee and even appeared to say something to him, but didn’t report as eligible.
I also haven’t actually seen evidence that Skipper (#70) declared himself as eligible. Somehow with all of the cameras in the stadium the only angle we have of Skipper running onto the field is from behind. If I see evidence of him making the “eligible” hand single it would change my opinion

I have said multiple times that the referee likely made a mistake. That does not change the fact that Detroit did not correct it when it was announced and they purposely tried to confuse the defense and in doing so confused the referee.

 

[Chuck 54]

The sneaky part was sending 3 linemen to the referee and hoping that the defense made their own assumptions when #70 came running in and ran straight to the referee.

I am not saying it's not legal for them to do that, but when you try to sneak things by the defense, those same assumptions can be inferred by the referees as well.

Normally, the linemen already on the field are not the ones who report as eligible. The lineman/linemen running onto the field are usually the ones who are reporting as receivers, usually for blocking reasons.

So, the referee likely assumed #70, who came running on to the field directly at him, was the one reporting.

That was likely a mistake but as I have said several times already, the burden is on the team requesting the non-eligible player become eligible to make sure the referee hears and announces the reporting player.

In this case that message was not clearly conveyed most likely because they were more focused on confusing (sneaking it by) the Cowboys defense and instead they confused the referee, which was way more important.

To your point, I find it suspicious that 70 and 58 go to the referee, but 68, the guy the play is designed for stands in the huddle until Goff grabs him and tells him to report. The whole thing was a mess, but I contend that if the refs announce 68 as eligible, the play probably never happens because someone watches him. You are obviously trying to trick everyone if that’s your number 1 play for a 2 pointer to win the game instead of trying to win with your playmakers.

 

[Reality]

To your point, I find it suspicious that 70 and 58 go to the referee, but 68, the guy the play is designed for stands in the huddle until Goff grabs him and tells him to report. The whole thing was a mess, but I contend that if the refs announce 68 as eligible, the play probably never happens because someone watches him. You are obviously trying to trick everyone if that’s your number 1 play for a 2 pointer to win the game instead of trying to win with your playmakers.

I don't fault teams for trying to find ways to confuse the other team, but I have little sympathy for them when it backfires.

 

[Creeper]

I think people are making assumption without hard evidence. We have a video of the 3 Lions going up to the refs and saying something. We have no audio indicating what they said. People are assuming because 68 went up to the refs that he must have reported. as eligible. But we do not have any proof that is what happened. #58 and #70 also went up to the refs yet both claim they did not report. I am not saying it didn't happen, I am only saying we have no proof it happened.

I think the refs were right. The player is responsible for reporting and making sure the refs understand he reported and what position he will play. The Lions failed to do this. The failed to correct the ref too after he announced who was eligible. That is all on the Lions.

Remember that Campbell went to the refs to explain to them they might run this play. But why would he need to explain a player reporting as eligible? This happens all the time and refs handle it multiple times per game. I think, and this is my assumption, that Campbell went to the refs to explain that 3 guys would approach him but only 1 would report as eligible. I think this play was a trick on the Cowboys and Campbell wanted the refs to play along. I think the refs chose not to be part of a deception against one of the teams so the played it straight. Imagine if the refs did go along with this nonsense? They would be helping the Lions fool the Cowboys costing Dallas the game. IMO, the refs were right, Campbell and the Lions were in the wrong.

I hate that Dallas ended the game by not running down the clock, then giving up an easy TD in under 2 minutes. But the Lions deserved to lose for what they attempted to do with the refs.

 

[bsbellomy]

He got closer so not sure what that screenshot is supposed to show

The explanation just doesn't jive with video evidence. The ref ran away before 70 even got there.

 

[NumOneQB]

Yes, two offensive lineman were close to the ref, and 70 was running up to the ref. Why was 70 running up to the ref? For what reason? You can see the ref staring at 70. All they did was confuse the ref. Just send 68 to the ref, real easy.

It was intentional. The confusion was sleight of hand on the Lions part. There’s a reason why they threw it to 68. They knew he was going to wide open because the D wasn’t going to cover him.

 

[Flamma]

It was intentional. The confusion was sleight of hand on the Lions part. There’s a reason why they threw it to 68. They knew he was going to wide open because the D wasn’t going to cover him.

And the D didn't cover him. If you watch the play the dude walks out there all alone. Only when Goff throws it to him did defenders close in.

I kind of liked Dan Campbell as a coach because he seems to be a great motivator. But the dude does some boneheaded stuff. How many points did they leave on the field? And instead of just going for two like a normal team, he confuses the refs, and makes things more difficult than it needs to be. They had a good chance at winning but for him. Then compounds the problem.........I'll stop there. Not like we don't have our own problems. Thankfully Dan did us a solid.

 

[DuncanIso]

I don't fault teams for trying to find ways to confuse the other team, but I have little sympathy for them when it backfires.

What did the Lions do wrong?

They reported.

Ref blew the call.

We got the win.

Lions are likely 3 seed and Eagles a 5.

 

[speedkilz88]

And the D didn't cover him. If you watch the play the dude walks out there all alone. Only when Goff throws it to him did defenders close in.

I kind of liked Dan Campbell as a coach because he seems to be a great motivator. But the dude does some boneheaded stuff. How many points did they leave on the field? And instead of just going for two like a normal team, he confuses the refs, and makes things more difficult than it needs to be. They had a good chance at winning but for him. Then compounds the problem.........I'll stop there. Not like we don't have our own problems. Thankfully Dan did us a solid.

Why cover a guy who wasn't reported as eligible?

Cowboys players knew to pay attention to who was announced according to post game interviews.

 

[LovinItAll]

I don’t care if they tried to be sneaky, if the refs designated the wrong player the refs designated the wrong player.

Who knows what was heard but 68 was sent to declare by Goff and is standing right there with the ref. Hard to imagine he didn’t attempt to. My guess is the official misattributed it to 70.

Still doesn’t matter if the ref told the defense that #70 was eligible.

In fact, after #68 caught the pass, one of the Cowboys defenders may have said to the ref, ‘Wait! You said #70 was eligible! Can’t have two declare eligible.’

Can you imagine if they’d let the play stand and the Cowboys defense afterwards said that they were told #70, not #68, was eligible? How angry would you be?

Bottom line: The Eagles sent 3 players at the ref trying to trick our defense. Did the ref make a mistake? Probably, but it would’ve hurt us, too. The fact is that they basically got another TWO tries, one from a yard and a half further than the first play. No trickery, they take the L.

We earned our victory.

 

[Flamma]

Why cover a guy who wasn't reported as eligible?

Cowboys players knew to pay attention to who was announced according to post game interviews.

Well Sure. Makes perfect sense. But the dude that announced was playing RG. Hopefully the defenders ignored him as well, as he couldn't go out for a pass.

 

[MarionBarberThe4th]

What’s he supposed to do and beyond approaching the official, what did 70 do?

If you can’t stand next a ref and verbally declare yourself eligible, the rule is just stupid to begin with. That either happened or it didn’t and no amount of looking at video will determine if 68 told the official. Maybe game sounds will have it later in the week.

The fault though falls on the player. It is the player's job to clearly inform the referee they are reporting as eligible and confirm the referee received it.

From the quote I read, Decker said he went to the referee and said "report". That was it. That is what he later said he said to the referee.

That combined with having 3 linemen all approach the referee at the same time makes it very clear the Lions were trying to be sneaky and confuse the defense and in the process confused the referee.

You can blame the referee, and I would not be surprised if he misheard who was eligible, but when you have 3 linemen approach the referee including one (#70) running from the sideline straight to the referee, it's very understandable that the referee believed #70 was the one reporting as eligible.

Sometimes coaches outsmart the wrong people and in this case, it seems like that's what happened.

It’s the same as you throwing a challenge flag. It’s your job to make sure they see it.

A ref getting confused with when you run three guys at him makes sense . I forgot my zip code last week.
Allowing him to announce the wrong number doesn’t make sense.

 

[Brax]

Yeah the outrage over this play is ridiculous. If the refs never announced that decker was eligible then he isn’t eligible. No wonder he was wide open, it’s because no one accounted for him as a receiver because everyone thought he wasn’t an eligible receiver.

Plus the lions had three players talking to the refs, they can’t all be eligible.

Total mistake by Detroit trying to be cute and it backfired.

As the OP mentioned as well even if the lions declared decker eligible you still had the other penalty.

I just don’t see an argument here for anyone to be upset about.

What is really bad is why wasn’t the 2 flags thrown until about 1 minute after the conversion. Dan Campbell talked to Allen before the game about this very play. I think the ref screwed up and now will not admit it. If all you folks are right saying it’s the right call why is the NFL looking into it. It will be interesting to see the official NFL take on this.

 

[thunderpimp91]

What is really bad is why wasn’t the 2 flags thrown until about 1 minute after the conversion. Dan Campbell talked to Allen before the game about this very play. I think the ref screwed up and now will not admit it. If all you folks are right saying it’s the right call why is the NFL looking into it. It will be interesting to see the official NFL take on this.

The ref for sure screwed up, but that doesn’t mean the Lions are without fault either. They heard the announcement in the stadium just like everyone else did, yet chose to just go with it.

 

[Brax]

The ref for sure screwed up, but that doesn’t mean the Lions are without fault either. They heard the announcement in the stadium just like everyone else did, yet chose to just go with it.

Why would they do that. I guarantee you if the teams were reversed everyone saying the call was correct would be saying the refs screwed us the penalty was wrong we told you it’s fixed

 

[thunderpimp91]

Why would they do that. I guarantee you if the teams were reversed everyone saying the call was correct would be saying the refs screwed us the penalty was wrong we told you it’s fixed

They should have mentioned the error to the refs because it’s a penalty if they don’t which is what happened.

It’s sort of like a receiver lining up. They are typically not offsides but they better confirm with the official or a flag could easily be thrown. Detroit heard the wrong number announced and simply ignored it.

 

[TheHerd]

As I posted in another thread, the problem is the Lions were trying to be sneaky about it, which places the blame squarely on them.

They wanted to be as quiet about it as possible to sneak it by the Cowboys defense and in doing so they snuck it by the referee as well.

The thing no one is talking about is that the Cowboys defense were not told he was eligible, which is likely why the play actually worked as no one on the defense was expecting him to run a route.

The Cowboys players confirmed this, and in fact you can see them pointing to number 70 before the snap. I don’t get all this controversy, other than it’s Dallas. The tripping call was far more egregious and a bigger screw up. No one is giving that any time.

 

[TheHerd]

Why would they do that. I guarantee you if the teams were reversed everyone saying the call was correct would be saying the refs screwed us the penalty was wrong we told you it’s fixed

If this was reversed, the entire sports media world and everyone else would just be saying the Cowboys tried to fool and got their justice for it. That’s the real story. Every team’s fans think they get screwed because refs screw up constantly. But the media creates a narrative with their bias and that’s the story which lives on.