Interesting end to the Lions-Cowboys game

[StickyBun]

3 attempts at a 2 point conversion....3 fails. Live by the sword, die by the sword. I don't know, wins are hard to come by in the NFL. It wasn't like Detroit allowed 48 points and couldn't stop the Dallas offense. Another part of me respects the aggressiveness. 

[Guest]

Ok, someone smarter then me. Didn’t Decker #70 line up as the left tackle?  Even if he were to report, that makes him ineligible doesn’t it?

[Guest]

The Lions fans are whining and I absolutely love it. 

[Guest]

Lions got screwed by an obvious Jerry Jones special, video evidence clearly shows Decker reporting in.  I would have kicked after that, but they actually would have easily still scored on a better pass on the 3rd try.  Impressed with the Lions, I will definitely be rooting for them in the playoffs. 

[Guest]

didnt see the game but watched on youtube.

It looks as though Goff instructed 68 to report to the referee, however THREE linemen went to report, 58, 68 and then 70 came in and reported, the referee turned away, then went to inform Dallas DL.  

Here are the issues as I see it...

1. The clock was stopped, but the official turned away prematurely without clarifying exactly WHO the Lions wanted as eligible. Official blew this.

2. How many OL are reporting as eligible? one? two? three?....everyone but the center?
    Ergo, ONE of their linemen shouldnt have been included in that...ahem... THREESOME
    Lions Coaching blew this

3. Player needs to make damn sure the official knows his number, not a “nod” or “hey, Im eligible.” State your number / not your position, and get a verification, say your number two or three times.

4. Arent officials supposed to announce the number of the lineman eligible BEFORE the play, or am I hallicinating? turn on the mic - “Number 68 has reported as eligible”
EDIT - SOUNDS LIKE 70 WAS REPORTED on the mic. 

It was a syllabus of errors IMO, white cap, coach, player

HOWEVER - I think the NFL LIKES this weekly nonsense (they certainly havent done anything to address the atrocious officiating each week) it causes a stir - brings attention to the league, “hey, did you hear about the end of the Lions game?” There is “No bad publicity” is there !?!

[Guest]

It sucks when the story of a game is about the refs. Anyway, here are my takes:

1. The lions defense played very well
2. The lions have been a very lucky team this year (I am a believer that luck follows the prepared so not taking anything away from their success). Yesterday they had two huge breaks: CD Lamb’s fumble into the end zone and the absolutely stupid play calls by McCarthy during the last 2 mins that gave the Lions a chance to tie the game. Who calls pass plays with 1:40 or so left when you are leading and the opponent has a timeout with a oretty good offense? Aikman almost lost his mind. This to me is the main story of the game and why McCarthy is on thin ice due to his poor calls at critical times of games. Its become a pattern.
3. Dan Campbell needs to get his act together fast. It’s fun and games being reckless with a team that barely wins but what happened yesterday was abject recklessness on his part especially when he had a huge opportunity to get second place. After the first flag, he should have kicked the extra point and sent the game to OT. He let his emotions get the better of him (more on that below). This is my second story of the game.
4. Lastly, Brad Allen (the ref) is not telling a lie that he communicated to the Cowboys that 70 was eligible NOT Decker. Clearly he screwed up who reported as eligible. However here is where Dan Campbell again drops the ball on this. It was announced in the stadium that 70 had reported eligible. Given this was not a timed sequence at least Dan Campbell or the players should have told the ref that was not correct. The Lions let the Cowboys believe that 70 was the eligible player hence the reason Decker was wide open (I believe). So in as much as the ref screwed up the communication the Lions who stood to benefit from the play never bothered correcting the ref especially when it was announced to everyone. Again Dan Campbell’s fault. Below is the announcement. You can clearly hear 70 announced as the eligible receiver. That announcement plus the subsequent Lions formation resulted in two penalties. Illegal formation (70 covered by the tackle which makes him now ineligible even though he was announced an eligible) and ineligible touch by Decker (the touch down since he was not eligible per the announcement). All these could have been cleared by the Lions after the wrong player was announced 

https://twitter.com/redditcowboys/status...22681?s=46&t=8As4442rwhs2v8S7ww--uw

[Guest]

@Vanguard83 said:
2. How many OL are reporting as eligible? one? two? three?....everyone but the center?
    Ergo, ONE of their linemen shouldnt have been included in that...ahem... THREESOME
    Lions Coaching blew this

3. Player needs to make damn sure the official knows his number, not a “nod” or “hey, Im eligible.” State your number / not your position, and get a verification, say your number two or three times.

What was really suspicious is the Decker of the 3 looks to be the one who is clearly in the refs face and talking to him.  I was wondering if the other two, especially 70 who is running in late, were to serve as decoys for the Cowboys to think they were reporting as well. As you pointed out, Decker is the one who Goff directs to go report.  Agree with you, there was a timeout so no excuse for the ref to not make sure he had it right with 3 players clearly standing in front of him, what else did he think they walked over to him for.

[Guest]

@AGRforever said:
Ok, someone smarter then me. Didn’t Decker #70 line up as the left tackle?  Even if he were to report, that makes him ineligible doesn’t it?

See my explanation above (point 4)

[Guest]

@JR44 said:

@Vanguard83 said:
2. How many OL are reporting as eligible? one? two? three?....everyone but the center?
    Ergo, ONE of their linemen shouldnt have been included in that...ahem... THREESOME
    Lions Coaching blew this

3. Player needs to make damn sure the official knows his number, not a “nod” or “hey, Im eligible.” State your number / not your position, and get a verification, say your number two or three times.

What was really suspicious is the Decker of the 3 looks to be the one who is clearly in the refs face and talking to him.  I was wondering if the other two, especially 70 who is running in late, were to serve as decoys for the Cowboys to think they were reporting as well. As you pointed out, Decker is the one who Goff directs to go report.  Agree with you, there was a timeout so no excuse for the ref to not make sure he had it right with 3 players clearly standing in front of him, what else did he think they walked over to him for.

exactly correct - I think the coaches WANTED that confusion, send two guys up - run in a third. 

[Guest]

Campbell was trying to be too cute and clever. It was dumb to keep going for it over and over again