The usually calm and collected Jim Caldwell was about as emotional as he was going to get during tonight’s post game press conference after the Lions’ 24-20 loss to the Cowboys. And If it wasn’t Dave Birkett setting Caldwell off (to Caldwell’s standards) then it was re-living the explanation (or lack there of) given by today’s official Pete Morelli as to why the flag was picked up, wiping out a first and 10 for the Lions in Dallas territory.
Via The Big Lead:
“It was not good enough,” he said. “I’m gonna leave it at that. I’m not gonna sit up here and act like that was the call that made the difference in the game. We still had our chances.”
Unsurprisingly Brandon Pettigrew (who was pretty blatantly interfered with by Anthony Hitchens) wasn’t happy about the play either:
Lions TE Brandon Pettigrew on the call: "I didn't get an explanation. It was ridiculous. … He ran through me."
— Albert Breer (@AlbertBreer) January 5, 2015
So why was the call overturned? Here’s a pool report with quotes from referee Pete Morelli:
Todd Archer (pool reporter): Can you talk about the decision to overturn the call and why you overturned the call?
Pete Morelli: The back judge threw his flag for defensive pass interference. We got other information from another official from a different angle that thought the contact was minimal and didn’t warrant pass interference. He thought it was face-guarding.
Archer: Which official?
Morelli: The head linesman.
Archer: What did you see?
Morelli: It’s not my responsibility. I’m a hundred miles away.
Archer: Face-guarding is not a foul?
Morelli: Face-guarding is not a foul. It is a penalty in college but not in professional football.
Archer: What is the process you go through after you announce the call? Should you have waited before you announced the call?
Morelli: Probably, yes. The information came and then the officials got together a little bit later, after it was given to me, the first information. It would have probably been smoother if we got together.
Archer: Do you remember this type of player happening before?
Morelli: No, not particularly.
Archer: So one more time on who the person was that had a better view?
Morelli: The better view was from the head linesman.
So essentially Morelli was relying on the head linesman who believed that the play was face guarding and that there was minimal contact being made. Additionally Morelli believed that the call wasn’t ‘his responsibility’ because he was ‘100 miles away’.
h/t: The Big Lead, ESPN (video)