Officials gather during an NFL football game between the Tennessee Titans and the Indianapolis Colts on Monday, Oct. 16, 2017, in Nashville, Tenn. (AP Photo/Wade Payne)
Sorry, Lions supporters. But don’t expect an apology from the league office for the erroneous illegal-touching penalty called on Taylor Decker on Saturday night. The NFL effectively reversed referee Brad Allen’s decision to penalize Decker on the Lions’ first of three failed two-point conversion attempts with 0:23 remaining on Tuesday. It accomplished this by creating a video that outlines the right procedure for players reporting as eligible prior to a game. The memo to the league’s 32 franchises includes two plays from Detroit’s Week 17 primetime defeat to Dallas.
The first play is from the first quarter and has Lions reserve offensive lineman Dan Skipper reporting as eligible. Meanwhile, the second play is from Detroit’s failed late-game two-point conversion try, which the NFL claims did not follow correct reporting rules.
The video’s narrator was Walt Anderson, the NFL’s senior vice president of officiating training and development. “As a reminder to clubs and players, an offensive player numbered 50-79 or 90-99 is permitted to line up as an eligible pass receiver,” he said in the video. To allow the defense to match personnel and maintain fairness, the player must promptly disclose any change in his eligibility status to the referee, who will notify the defensive team and make an announcement to the stadium before that play.”
/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/73017810/taylor_decker_reporting.0.png)
Jared Goff had just led the Lions down the field on a nine-play, 75-yard scoring drive prior to the contentious two-point attempt. Goff’s 11-yard touchdown pass to Amon-Ra St. Brown concluded the drive, cutting the Cowboys’ lead to one, 20-19.
Dan Campbell, the head coach in Detroit, then had to decide whether to keep his offense on the field for the two-point conversion try. He chose to do so, which sparked controversy for the Lions.
On the next snap, Detroit offensive coordinator Ben Johnson devised a stunning trick play with Decker as the intended receiver. It compelled the veteran left tackle to report as eligible to Allen prior to the play, which he plainly did after analyzing game footage. Nonetheless, Allen proclaimed Skipper as eligible rather than Decker to both the Dallas defense and the AT&T Stadium fans.
Prior to the ill-fated two-point conversion attempt, Skipper, Decker, and right tackle Penei Sewell jogged up to Allen, who had successfully reported as eligible earlier in the game. By having the three lineman head in the direction of Allen, Campbell intended to confuse the Cowboys’ defense rather than Allen’s officiating crew. The tactic, however, backfired and perplexed Allen, despite the fact that Campbell had gone over the play-call with the other members of the crew prior to kickoff. At this point, there’s no doubt that Decker and company are to fault for the contentious finale to Detroit’s Week 17 loss to Dallas.
