As expected, the Lions got destroyed Saturday night falling to the Seahawks 26-6 in the NFC Wild Card game from Seattle.
After getting embarrassed, the Lions voiced their displeasure by taking aim at the officiating crew after getting called for seven penalties resulting in 68-total yards lost. Which by no means isn’t the best and no where near the worst we’ve seen from Detroit in past games.
Here’s what Anquan Boldin told reporters after getting called for two penalties. One for shoving a Seattle player into the sidelines after an incomplete pass and striking a defensive player in the fourth quarter.
via USA Today:
“We expected that, to be honest with you,” Boldin said. “I mean, there were some calls that left us shaking our head. I’m sure you guys know exactly what I’m talking about. But it is what it is. Anytime you come into a place like this, you know you have to play more than the team.”
Additionally, the Lions also weren’t happy with potential calls that didn’t go their way. For example a missed face mask call committed by Paul Richardson. The result of the play was a two-yard touchdown reception for Richardson that put the Seahawks up 7-0 midway through the second quarter and a pass interference call on Tavon Wilson.
This is an unreal catch, Paul Richardson. #DETvsSEA pic.twitter.com/8tXYlQ9ckN
— SNF on NBC (@SNFonNBC) January 8, 2017
Sure the play itself may have been a table setter. But the Lions always seem to be good at being some victim of a missed call when in the end that missed call probably didn’t make much of a difference at all.
Despite the apparent bitching the Lions aren’t accusing the refs of ‘stealing the game’ from them. You just have to look past the implied comments and Darius Slay talking about it being a different game if the refs weren’t making ‘badder’ calls.
“It’s just, at critical moments they were making the badder call,” Slay said. “It wasn’t stolen from us. Like I said, the Seahawks played a great game. Whole complete game. Their defense played well, offense played well, but the game would have been a lot more different without them unsportsmanlike conduct calls, them PI (pass interference) calls.”
Some of the complaints coming from the Lions may have some merit if they didn’t lose by 20-points in a game that wasn’t even that close. And yes I’m well aware the referee in last night’s game was Brad Allen who officiated two the Lions’ worst penalized games of the year against Tennessee (17 enforced penalties for 138 yards) and Houston (eight penalties for 75 yards). However again it’s not like the Lions were overly penalized. Seattle had six penalties for 40 yards.
The far more concerning stat lines for the Lions would be the zero touchdowns, 49 net rushing yards and 182 net passing yards.