We regret to inform you that the NFL referees are at it again. Monday night’s Packers-Lions game was a highly competitive battle with big NFC and NFC North ramifications (Green Bay entered at 4-1, Detroit entered at 2-1-1), and unfortunately officiating had to get in the way in key moments down the stretch.
That ended up being good news for the Packers, at least. Green Bay came away with a 23-22 victory on a walk-off, chip-shot field goal from Mason Crosby.
Credit the Packers for erasing a 13-0 deficit, and credit Aaron Rodgers for making ridiculous throws like this 35-yard touchdown pass to Allen Lazard:
But the Packers were gifted two “illegal hands to the face” calls against Detroit defensive end Trey Flowers in the fourth quarter. They were awful, phantom calls, and both came at crucial times in the fourth quarter.
The first penalty against Flowers came when Rodgers was sacked on 3rd-and-10 at the Green Bay 44 with just over 10 minutes remaining. If the penalty had not been called, the Packers (quite likely) would’ve been punting. Instead, they were given an automatic first down, and three plays later, Rodgers made the aforementioned touchdown pass to Lazard.
With under two minutes remaining, the Packers were in in field goal range at the 16-yard line, but the Lions at least were set to get the ball back after Rodgers threw an incompletion on 3rd-and-4. But again, Flowers was called illegal hands to the face, giving — or, gifting — the Packers a first down. The Lions were out of timeouts, and the Packers were able to run the clock down to set up Crosby’s game-winning field goal as time expired.
Incredible. This is thievery. pic.twitter.com/VONyd2ZNZ6
— Timothy Burke (@bubbaprog) October 15, 2019
Just about anybody watching the game had the same reaction.
https://twitter.com/coachdelrio/status/1183956821905686528
The NFL changed all its replay rules to avoid impacting games and they just handed the Packers a game.
Lions might miss the playoffs over this.
— Will Brinson (@WillBrinson) October 15, 2019
First pic: illegal hands to the “face” penalty to keep a drive alive after a third down sack.
Second pic: not pass interference.
Hey but they’re trying their best out there. pic.twitter.com/Iecs6SzGXr
— Michael Hurley (@michaelFhurley) October 15, 2019
https://twitter.com/DanWetzel/status/1183945582227939328
Man Trey Flowers just got taken out behind the wood shed by the officials.
Two completely fabricated calls
— Sam Monson (@PFF_Sam) October 15, 2019
That is sickening… the @NFL needs to look at a way to prevent that from happening. Two phantom hands to the face calls really hurts us tonight. Yes, we could have scored TDs, but @Lions played too well to have the game end this way. #DETvsGB @espn
— Barry Sanders (@BarrySanders) October 15, 2019
And again, it’s particularly awful with this being a very meaningful game. The Lions move to last place in the NFC North with the loss, and would’ve been in first place with a win.
NFC North:
Packers 5-1
Vikings 4-2
Bears 3-2
Lions 2-2-1NFC North (if Lions win)
Lions 3-1-1
Packers 4-2
Vikings 4-2
Bears 3-2The NFL refs inability to get basic calls correct are literally the difference between first place and last place for the Lions.
— Will Brinson (@WillBrinson) October 15, 2019
This is unacceptable from NFL officiating, and expect a half-assed response from the league. And the Lions aren’t going to be happy with any response after they were possibly screwed out of a huge victory.
[ESPN]
