Lions created ‘illusion’ that led to confusion on controversial call

The biggest play of the Dallas Cowboys’ dramatic 20-19 win over the Detroit Lions on Saturday was one that didn’t count. 

As has been well publicized by now, Lions offensive lineman Taylor Decker’s reception on what would’ve been the go-ahead two-point conversion in the final seconds of Saturday’s showdown was negated because lead official Brad Allen said Decker didn’t report as an eligible receiver, getting penalized for illegal touching. 

The Lions got a pair of retries on the two-point conversion because the Cowboys committed an offside penalty on the ensuing attempt, but they were unable to convert. 

Following the game, Allen and Lions players shared different stories about what happened before the negated two-point conversion. Allen said in the pool report that backup offensive lineman Dan Skipper reported to him as eligible, not Decker. But the Lions said that Decker had reported to Allen as an eligible receiver, not Skipper.

The overhead camera gave credence to the Lions’ claim. Prior to the two-point conversion, Decker was seen having a conversation with Allen with Lions offensive tackle Penei Sewell standing right next to the two before Skipper joined as the brief conversation ended. 

Adding to the trick play, Skipper had reported as an eligible receiver throughout the night, with Campbell saying he gave the officiating crew a heads-up prior to the game that they could try something like they did on a two-point conversion. 

FOX Sports NFL Rules Analyst Dean Blandino believes the Lions might have had too much trickery on the play, which could have caused confusion among the officiating crew over which player really was eligible. 

“You’ve got a gadget play. This is a special play. They’ve been practicing it,” Blandino said on the “NFL on FOX” podcast.” “The whole thing is contingent on Decker reporting. So, it’s hard for me to sit here and say, ‘He’s going to forget.’ What I think the Lions did was they kind of created this illusion — you had not…

Source link : https://www.foxsports.com/stories/nfl/lions-created-illusion-led-to-confusion-controversial-call-dean-blandino-says

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Publish date : 2024-01-01 05:38:41

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