It's not just Detroit Lions fans who are upset with the way Saturday night's game against the Dallas Cowboys ended.
National analysts were up in arms across social media after the Lions had their go-ahead 2-point conversion wiped off the board by a penalty, leading to a 20-19 loss to the Cowboys.
In typical Lions fashion, the high-stakes, standalone game finished very controversially when left tackle Taylor Decker caught a pass in the end zone, seemingly putting the Lions in position to win the game.
However, the elation was quickly crushed when head referee Brad Allen announced an illegal touching penalty on Decker.
After the game, Decker said he specifically told Allen that he was declaring as an eligible receiver. Allen, however, said Dan Skipper declared as an eligible receiver, despite Skipper seemingly never getting close enough to speak with the referee.
REPORT: Members of refereeing crew for Detroit Lions-Cowboys game will not work postseason
Skipper said he never said a word to Allen, and Lions head coach Dan Campbell added in his postgame press conference that he went over all of the team's trick plays with the refereeing crew before the game, but there was still seemingly a mix-up.
When the penalty was called, Campbell decided to leave his offense on the field to attempt the 2-point play from roughly the 7-yard line. Goff was intercepted on the play, but Cowboys star Micah Parsons jumped offsides, giving the Lions another play. On the third try, this time from the 3, Goff attempted a pass to tight end James Mitchell, but the throw was low and Mitchell was unable to grab the pass, effectively ending the game.
Had the play stood, the Lions would've been up by 1 with 23 seconds left, but instead, the Cowboys recovered an onside kick and took a knee to run out the clock.
After some initial confusion, including the ESPN broadcasting team who was also trying to figure out what happened, there was a heavy outpouring of backlash against the refs for getting the call wrong.
Analysts called the decision that likely cost the Lions any chance at the No. 1 seed unacceptable and said the Lions were robbed of a win.
You can view the responses to the controversial call below:
Only two scenarios exist and both make the NFL look bad.
1) Referee Brad Allen is totally incompetent and confused who reported to him despite the Lions telling him before the game
2) Referee Brad Allen is crooked
Either one means he can't be employed by the NFL by EOD.
— Isaac (@WorldofIsaac) December 31, 2023
Implications of Detroit's controversial Saturday night loss:
🏈If Detroit had won, it would have secured, at worst, the No. 2 seed in the NFC with another win next week.
🏈If Detroit had won last night and again in Week 18, and if SF lost one game, the Lions would have claimed… pic.twitter.com/Eto3N6nl0Q
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) December 31, 2023
"It's a two-point try for the game. There's no reason to rush. Slow it down, make sure who's eligible and who isn't."
NFL Rules Analyst @DeanBlandino and @PSchrags explain what happened during the two-point conversion in the Lions-Cowboys game ⬇️ pic.twitter.com/jWOvbNDLWL
— FOX Sports: NFL (@NFLonFOX) December 31, 2023
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Analysts think Detroit Lions were robbed by refs against Cowboys
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