As another week of NFL passes by a new controversy came up on the surface. The Lions’ loss to the Cowboys was highly scrutinized by the NFL fans. Detroit Lions‘ OT, Taylor Decker was charged with a penalty as he was accused of not reporting to the officials. The Quarterback has been with the Lions since 2016 and has also been awarded the Good Guy Award by the Detroit Sports Association. So what happened in the Detroit vs Cowboys match?
Jared Goff had brought the Lions to a score of 20-19 with a touchdown. The game would have been easily sent to overtime by just a single-point conversion. But that was not agreeable with the coach, Dan Campbell. He wanted an absolute win and hence called for a two-pointer. At prima facie, the game went in Detroit’s favor.
But the referees soon flagged up and indicated a playback. They alleged Taylor Decker to not declare himself eligible. Although there is much clear video evidence that things happened just to the contrary of their decision. This was yet another NFL referee misreckoning that changed the course of the match.
ESPN just showed another angle. Jared Goff literally sends Taylor Decker and tells him to report as eligible. I mean…. Wow. https://t.co/5rJoI0AcJT pic.twitter.com/vuyQCmnJkY
— Ari Meirov (@MySportsUpdate) December 31, 2023
Hence Decker was not announced as an eligible receiver. The score eventually was removed which otherwise would have brought the Lions to a score of 22-21, making them the winners.
QB Jared Goff confirms he was telling Taylor Decker to report as eligible
Dan Campbell made an aggressive call. But then it was fruitful for the Lions until Taylor Decker was announced ineligible for not reporting to the referees. Their score still hung on 20-19 as Goff failed the throw in the last attempt. To this incident of being termed incapable as per the referee’s jurisdiction, Taylor Decker replied post-game.
Taylor said, “All I really want to say on it, so I didn’t get myself in trouble, is I did exactly what coach told me to do,” Decker further added, “Went to the ref, said ‘Report,’ yeah.” He also said that he strictly followed the course of action that he practiced in his pre-game session. As per to him he did do nothing out of the line and penalizing him was irrational and was a wrong judgment.
#Lions OT Taylor Decker: “I did exactly what the coach told me to do. I went to the ref and said ‘report.'”
He also says its his understanding that HC Dan Campbell explained this exact situation to the refs before the game.
(🎥 @nolanbianchi) pic.twitter.com/XOQPMfeWk0 https://t.co/k8o9KRDQA2
— Ari Meirov (@MySportsUpdate) December 31, 2023
Even his teammate and colleague Goff said that he asked Decker to go and report the referee and “Yep… and he did.” It was evident in the match videos that the three Lions’ linemen, including Decker, went up to the referee and Brad Allen and said something.
#Lions QB Jared Goff confirms he was telling Taylor Decker to report as eligible: “Yep… and he did.” https://t.co/9dWB9rBrpz pic.twitter.com/UO5t9YPsjH
— Ari Meirov (@MySportsUpdate) December 31, 2023
The fans too are not convinced by the referee’s calls. They called the NFL rigged and some said that it was pathetic for the referees to not give the correct judgment. This game indeed changed the NFC complexion. The ‘x’ blasted with fan’s opinions.