‘Be a Man And Take Responsibility’

Detroit Lions fans woke up on New Year’s Eve feeling pretty salty after the controversial conclusion of their Saturday night primetime matchup with the Dallas Cowboys. The Lions scored a touchdown with fewer than 30 seconds left in the contest to bring the score to 20-19. As we’ve come to expect from Dan Campbell’s team, they lined up to go for two and appeared to get it thanks to a great playcall involving tackle Taylor Decker rolling out into the endzone as an eligible receiver.

The play was called off, though, because the referees thought offensive guard Dan Skipper also reported eligible. He stayed in-line to block and was flagged for illegal formation. The Lions were incensed because they believed Skipper never said he was eligible. They still went for two again and failed, losing the game.

Afterwards Campbell said he told the referees what they were planning to do– have Skipper go up with Decker to the refs for Decker to declare himself eligible, and Skipper was there as a decoy. In the pool report afterwards the head official still insisted Skipper declared himself eligible. The Cowboys still had to make a stop after that to win the game but it’s another referee controversy in a season full of them for the NFL.

Rex Ryan was worked up about it on NFL Live this morning and blew up on the referees, demanding they take responsibility and not dish blame onto the players when they did everything right.

Speaking for the masses here. Even as a neutral observer it’s very hard not to get frustrated by what seems to be basic mistakes made on a weekly basis. This happened with a bright spotlight on it, making it all the more frustrating. Especially for Lions fans who may still feel like they got jobbed in the same building back in the 2014 postseason.

A tough scene for the Lions and the league.