DETROIT — The Lions claim to have moved past the Dallas officiating error. Even their social media crew and their players dispute this.
The Lions shared a video of Taylor Decker, their left tackle, on Twitter.
“reporting” (get it?) to Ford Field before Sunday’s regular-season finale against the Minnesota Vikings. Minutes later, Decker responded to the video by saying: “That is not me.”
The Lions responded to that with a video of Dan Skipper “reporting” (you see where this is going, right?) to Ford Field.
It is clear from the interaction that it is a jab at the contentious loss to the Cowboys last week. On a late 2-point play, Decker walked up to the referee and verbally reported as an eligible receiver, wiping his front numbers with his hands—a gesture that is commonly used to report eligibility. Referee Brad Allen, however, was captivated by Skipper’s rush onto the field. Skipper is an extra offensive lineman who frequently presents himself as a qualified receiver. Skipper never conversed with the referees, but he did give offense formational directions by flexing one arm to indicate a jumbo formation and making the sign for 12 personnel by making a gun near his chest with the other.
According to reports, the official misinterpreted Skipper’s formational directions for reporting and declared Skipper to be the play’s eligible receiver. Both the Lions coach Dan Campbell and the players from both teams were unable to hear the announcement on the field.
With 23 seconds remaining, Decker managed to catch what looked to be the game-winning touchdown, but the officials threw a flag, ruling him an ineligible receiver. In the end, Detroit lost 20–19.
After the game, Allen stepped up his appeal of the decision, stating that Skipper had reported to him as eligible. The NFL then went even farther, releasing a memo on the play that addressed Decker while focusing on Skipper, who had not reported as eligible.
“Yeah, I’ve seen it all,” Skipper said. “Next question.”
The play has continued to rankle players all week, but Campbell — who diagramed the controversial play for officials before the Cowboys game — is trying to move on.
“I’m ready, man,” Campbell said. “I’ve got controlled fury, and I’m ready to go. I am absolutely ready to go. I don’t go the other way. So, the team won’t either. We’re on a mission, and we’re not going to feel sorry for ourselves and wallow in everything. We had plays to make, we didn’t make them, and it’s a tight game, a good opponent, playoff-type atmosphere. We got to make that one extra play that we didn’t. So, we got to use this as fuel. I’ve got pure octane right now. I woke up, I’m ready, so we’re moving forward.”
While Campbell appears to be moving on, Decker and the social media team are still dwelling on a mistake that might have cost Detroit a crucial playoff seeding. Fans are, of course, too.
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