You know an NFL game is completely fucked when fans and the media become VERY familiar with the officiating crew in the aftermath. Unfortunately, this is exactly what we have coming out of last night’s shitshow in Dallas where an officiating crew completely changed the landscape of the NFC playoff picture after the Cowboys beat Detroit 20-19.
The video from last night seems to show Lions offensive lineman Taylor Decker reporting himself as eligible to referee Brad Allen, because why the hell would an offensive lineman approach an official before a play for any other reason than that? Allen acknowledged what Decker relayed to him with a nod of the head. The Lions converting the two-point conversion to take a lead over the Cowboys with less than a minute left in the fourth. A flag thrown 5-10 seconds after the play negating the two-point attempt because Decker is apparently Dan Skipper now, and the Lions once again get screwed in Dallas in a massive game.
Meanwhile, here’s Allen attempting to provide and explanation to his fuckup.
The problem is, once again, the video shows something completely different. Skipper (No. 70) isn’t anywhere near the interaction between Decker (No. 68) and Allen. Skipper runs up to Decker after the exchange with Allen is over and Allen runs to take his position before the snap. Is Allen actually trying to claim that Skipper told him he was eligible as he (Allen) was running back to his position? If this was the case why wouldn’t Decker immediately correct the situation with Allen?
What doesn’t help this whole situation is this wasn’t the first time Brad Allen’s crew has come under scrutiny for questionable calls this year.
Then there’s this…
Not only that, the Lions are apparently 0-6 when Brad Allen has been the official according to Pro Football Reference…
That’s not to say there’s some giant conspiracy against the Lions after what happened last night. What sucks is the NFL probably won’t even address this, the crew in question, especially Allen, will continue to fuck up with total impunity, and we go on.
Make no mistake too, especially if you’re someone out there trying to pass off some hot take or be a contrarian for the sake of being a contrarian as you peddle bullshit like the loss coming down to a coaching blunder. There weren’t 10, eight, or even two minutes left in the game, there was less than a minute when the Lions took the lead. This also wasn’t a situation where the refs missed a pass interference or holding call because of the speed of the game. The Lions were robbed, plain and simple.