Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones admitted that the way their Week 17 game against the Detroit Lions ended was “convoluted.” However, he expressed belief that Dan Campbell’s men are also at fault for what happened.
To recall, the Lions lost to the Cowboys 20-19 after a controversial penalty call denied Detroit of what would have been a game-winning two-point conversion. Apparently, there was confusion on who the eligible receiver was, leading to the shocking turn of events.
What Happened in the Dallas Cowboys-Detroit Lions Referee Fiasco?
It started after the Lions scored a touchdown off a pass from Jared Goff to Amon-Ra St. Brown. It allowed Detroit to cut Dallas’ lead to just 20-19 with only 23 seconds left.
With a chance to tie the game with a field goal or win it with a two-point conversion, the Lions chose the latter. With that, they needed one of their offensive lineman to report as an eligible receiver for the play.
Taylor Decker was the one who was supposed to report, but referee Brad Allen thought it was Dan Skipper reporting. Allen then proceeded to tell the Cowboys who declared as eligible receiver and announced it.
Nonetheless, when the Cowboys lined up, it was Decker who’s on position to receive, while Skipper lined up differently and with coverage–which was been an illegal formation because he reported as the eligible receiver.
With that said, after Decker caught the pass for the extra two points, it was quickly waived off. Two flags were thrown as a result of the confusion–one for the illegal touching penalty on Decker and another for the illegal formation of Skipper, as Allen explained after the game.
While the Lions still had the chance to win, they were stopped by the Cowboys.
Sure enough, the whole issue angered the Lions and their fanbase. The team denied that Skipper reported and it was Decker all along who reported. Video replays of the incident also showed Decker reporting.
Jerry Jones, however, has a different view of the matter. While he might be bias because it’s his team who benefitted, he did make some interesting points.
On the video of the incident circulating online, t’s worth noting that Taylor Decker was with Penei Sewell when reporting as eligible receiver. Dan Skipper was also showed running towards the referee instead of the huddle.
Those gestured made it appear that Skipper was the one reporting. Whether the Detroit Lions purposely did it to create confusion and fool the Cowboys, it certainly backfired. After all, despite their claims, the mistake they made was not clarifying to the referee who the eligible receiver was.
Jones emphasized that point in his latest radio appearance on 105.3 The Fan.
“I can’t believe the convoluted way that we ended up winning that game. But let me put it like this: The defensive team is supposed to know who the eligible receivers are. Anything you do to fuzzy that up can get fuzzy for you,” Jones explained, via Clarence E. Hill Jr. of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram.
It’s definitely an interesting take that has been lost amid all the hate directed at the referees. While they certainly could have done a better job in communicating with the Lions, the same can be said of Detroit. Their actions sparked confusion in the first place, and it’s what doomed them.